Aerorozvidka photo via Twitter
In seven weeks of brutal combat since Russia widened its war in Ukraine, the Ukrainian air force has lost at least 15 fixed-wing aircraft—more than a tenth of its pre-war inventory.
More and more, armed drones are filling in for the dwindling manned force.
The Ukrainian air force and navy between them operate around three dozen Turkish-made TB-2 killer drones. But commercial-style drones have entered the fray, too. Aerorozvidka, a volunteer drone squad, has begun dropping tiny bombs from its off-the-shelf helicopter drones.
If this tactic seems familiar, it’s because terror-group Islamic State popularized it in Iraq and Syria starting eight years ago. ISIS drones dropping small explosives were “the main problem” for coalition troops fighting to liberate Mosul, one Iraqi officer said.
Drug cartels quickly copied ISIS’ methods. Now Ukraine’s own off-the-shelf drones are coming for the Russians. Video evidence of Aerorozvidka’s bombing technique isn’t hard to come by. The drone squad itself posts some of the footage.
There are common elements in the videos: a stable drone vertically dropping a small munition producing a blast that, while hardly catastrophic, seems sufficient to damage an armored vehicle and wound or kill anyone standing nearby.
Vertical bombing from a hovering platform strongly implies the drone in question is a quadcopter or octocopter—the kind anyone can buy online. An octocopter might weigh 10 pounds and lift another 15 pounds. You could install a camera and still have lifting capacity for several small bombs.
A 10-pound drone dropping three-pound explosives obviously poses less danger to Russian forces than does a 1,400-pound TB-2 firing 14-pound Smart Micro Munition missiles from miles away.
For one, an octocopter has to get close in order to drop its bomb. Analysts have confirmed one shoot-down of a Ukrainian octocopter, but it’s apparent Aerorozvidka has lost many more drones than that.
What’s more, a TB-2 can range many hundreds of miles from its operators thanks to its satellite control system. An octocopter with its line-of-sight radio link might be able to travel 75 miles under the best conditions. But closer is better for commercial-style drone operators.
That risks exposing drone fliers to enemy fire. Oleh Sobchenko, a Ukrainian military drone operator, told a reporter that civilian drone operators “expose themselves to unnecessary danger by trying to get as close to the enemy positions as possible.”
An octocopter probably can’t replace a TB-2, but it can complement the bigger drone—and at a much lower cost. Where Kyiv pays millions of dollars to acquire a TB-2, it can buy an octocopter for $10,000. Ukrainian volunteers also produce their own drones.
Aerorozvidka is at least partially crowdfunded. That’s possible when your drones are cheap. Not so much when they cost millions of dollars apiece. Losing a TB-2 is a big deal—and so far the Russians have shot down at least three. In comparison, losing an octocopter is an inconvenience.
Five years ago ISIS set up factories in Iraq and Syria to modify mortar bombs to fit on its off-the-shelf drones. The cartels, for their part, have loaded up drones with so-called “potato bombs”—fist-size improvised explosives—for attacks on each other and police.
Aerorozvidka appears to favor anti-tank grenades with 3D-printed stabilizers. Just enough firepower to damage a Russian armored vehicle and knock it, and possibly its crew, out of the fight.
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