File image.
A Russian missile strike on the Dnipropetrovsk region has destroyed three Ukrainian light planes which were used to intercept drones.
The planes, reported to be An-2 utility planes, were deployed at a small airfield, some 11 kilometers to the north of the settlement of Tomakovka. Footage released by the Russian Fighterbomber channel on Telegram on May 33 shows what appears to be a ballistic missile, most likely an Iskander-M with a fuel-air explosive warhead, hitting the planes.
The Iskander-M is said to have a range of nearly 500 kilometers and can be armed with different types of conventional warheads, weighing between 710 and 800 kg. The highly-maneuverable missile is guided by a GLONASS-aided inertial navigation system. It can be also equipped with an optical seeker with a digitized scene-mapping area correlator system for terminal guidance.
The use of an advanced missile like the Iskander-M against such a target indicates that Russia now has a surplus of long-range weapons.
The Civil Air Patrol of Ukraine, a pro-Kiev organization that consists mainly of amateur aviators and private aircraft owners, have been using Yak-52 trainer planes to intercept drones. Russian media said that the An-2s targeted near Tomakovka were also being used in this role.
Recently, it was revealed that volunteers working with the Russian military have been working to develop their own drone hunting plane based on the Yak-52.
The Yak-52 has a top speed of 285 kilometers per hour, an operation range of 550 kilometers and a service ceiling of under 4 kilometers, which makes it suitable for intercepting small to medium sized drones.
Photos posted to social networks showed one such plane upgraded with a gambled electro-optical system under one wing and fully-automatic shotgun under the other. The modification suggests that the plane is not just meant to intercept drones, but also to detect them for other air defense means during large-scale attacks.
Click to see full-size image. Via Telegram.
Click to see full-size image. Via Telegram.
Click to see full-size image. Via Telegram.
Using old light trainers for hunting drones is a practical idea, although the deployment of drone hunters is only suitable in safe areas, far away from the front. However, in the case of Ukraine, such areas do not exist, due to the long-range strike capabilities of the Russian military.
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any non white (specially africans and asians) would be beaten to death by the white supremacists of the following organizations: ss aidar, ss kraken, wolfsangel (aka azov), waffen ss nachtigall (who were in kursk killing civilians), leibstandarte adolf hitler, right sektor – all of them hate africans and asians, and all of them are leading the ukrainian government and military. all of them funded by the us and eu tax payers
putin just took out another diaper…heheeheeehhhh
lol… he barely gives ukraine’s trenchrats the time to take a dump.
ukraine must be running out of pickle jars to be using those things.
ukraine is holding the frontline from north to south and bleeding russian ground forces white.
russia must start using horses and t-34/76 tanks. 🤣
just add wing pylons to the yaks so they can launch yolkas.