Ukraine has carried out the first documented attack against a Russian soldier using A launcher mounted on a FPV drone. A video, which shows two attacks with this system, has been published in social media by the Ukrainian Drones company Wild Hornets.
In the first, a soldier is demolished by the explosion of the Granada that impacts with him, who died according to the company. In the second clip, the objective is not seen clearly. The attacks were carried out by the drone unit Bulava of the 3.er mechanized battalion of the separate presidential brigade Bohdan Khmelnytsky and took place on Tuesday, in the sector of Novopavlivka From the front line, according to Kyiv Post.
Queen Hornet, one of the largest commercial FPV drones
The drone used was a Queen Hornet of Wild Hornets. This is one of the larger FPV drones, with an aluminum structure of 43 centimeterscommercially produced for combat in Ukraine. Can transport to 9 kilograms of payload with a range of 15 kilometers. Your flight roof is 2,000 metersstay up 25 minutes in the air and reaches a maximum speed of 160 km/hbeing the cruise of 80 km/h.
Its most common use in war is being like bombardierbut it also serves as a lodging ammunition, logistics drone, communications retransmitter and drone bearer. According to Wild Hornets, More than 100 Hornets are active on the front lineand monthly production continues to increase.
‘They used it successfully against enemy infantry. The video shows the destruction of the occupant. The moment when the occupant received an exclusive death‘, said Wild Hornets in the publication of the video.
Hungarian bulkeke apric
Although the company has not specified which is used, in tests carried out last September with the same unit, it did report that it was the BULSPIKE AP Hungarian.
‘From now on, an ordinary launcher can work At a distance of more than 5 km. This opens new opportunities for the military, ‘said Wild Hornets.
The Bulkeke Ap shoots a high explosive fragmentation grenade OG-22m Designed to aim the enemy staff in trenches, open land or low light coverage, as well as vehicles without armor.
The grenade of 2 kilograms dispersed more than one thousand fragments when detoningwith an effective range of direct fire of approximately 100 meters. Queen Hornet drone is composed of a 65 % of Ukrainian manufacturing components, including personalized electronics developed during the war.
“A spear cartridge flies faster than any FPV drone”
Diego Rodríguezan operator of Ukrainian recognition drones of the Undipulated Systems Forces, has indicated to the environment that ‘I do not understand why this was not done before, and why it is not already being used on a large scale. Absolutely it should be ‘.
According to Rodríguez, the advantage offered by these drones with launches is that they get faster and more precise impactscompared to its use as kamikaze drones, noisy and easily visible when they approach, which allows the objective for a reaction time. ‘A spear cartridge flies faster than any DRON FPVso the precision is greater. You can attack from further and face less electronic war courses, ‘he explains.
Vadym ‘Sonik’ Feshchenkoformer grenadier and current drone operator, affirms to the Ukrainian medium that the use of FPV drones with launcher could Mark the next stage in the evolution of the drone war.
‘The infantry is used to drones that fly over the area, preparing to launch something. They tame their movement around the scope of the drone. But if the drone begins to shoot in full flight, it drastically shortens its window to regroup outside the trench‘, he points out. This system would cause Russian soldiers to retire or run to cover at the moment they listen to a drone.
In addition, ‘modern launched projectiles also offer a wide range of capacities, including cumulative eyes that can penetrate up to 7 centimeters of armor‘, so they would be effective against armored vehicles of the enemy.