Ukraine uses hobby drones to throw grenades at Russian tanks

A Ukrainian drone has discovered two Russian armored vehicles in the Kherson region. The military vehicles are buried in front of a row of trees, under a roof of wood and straw. But can’t prevent them from being spotted from the air anyway. Shortly afterwards, small bombs whirl down, followed by a series of explosions.

Elsewhere on the battlefield, a drone from the 40th Artillery Brigade of Ukraine throws a heavy shell, normally fired by a grenade launcher, through the open turret of a Russian T-80 tank. After the explosion, clouds of smoke rise from the tank. Bombs are also thrown on an army truck, hidden between houses and trees. A drone films the truck going up in flames. Videos of these attacks, accompanied by music, are posted on Facebook by the Ukrainian brigade.

The Ukraine war shows once again how important drones have become in the battle. Both sides use kamikazedrones that strike at targets at great speed. Military drones are also used for reconnaissance, after which the artillery opens fire on enemy units. Both the Russians and the Ukrainians are also increasingly using commercial drones such as quadcopters that are simply for sale in the store.

The Ukrainian army has perfected drone strikes

Not a day goes by without Ukrainian units demonstrating that civilian drones can be used successfully to drop heavy munitions such as grenades and mortars. It is a simple and cheap combat method that has already been used by, among others, IS in Syria and Iraq. But the Ukrainian military has further perfected attacks with simple drones, according to the many videos posted daily.

In the first months of the invasion, many Chinese-made drones were deployed, such as the Mavic 3, which costs about 5 thousand euros in the shop. Lately, Ukraine is also using homemade drones. They carry ever heavier ammunition; Gone are the days when Ukrainians hung simple hand grenades in a metal bait fish used by fishermen under a drone to drop at Russian equipment. The metal shell provides better streamline.

The ‘bombs’ that are now being dropped are grenades such as the American M430A1, which is powerful enough to take out lightly armored vehicles or groups of soldiers. There are reports of even heavier ammunition being used, such as 80mm grenades. The Ukrainians have a home-made drone, the R-18, which can transport explosives of up to five kilos for miles.

Espionage services and criminal gangs are also watching

‘This has become part of modern warfare’, says drone expert Wim Zwijnenburg of peace organization PAX. “The Ukrainians have further professionalized this tactic. They use 3D printers to make tail fins to make the grenades more precise. They have also developed a special ejection mechanism. Many countries follow what they are doing. But police and espionage services are also watching. Because criminal gangs and terror groups also see how easy it is to arm a commercial drone.’

The videos released by Ukrainian army units show how effective drones can be. For example, a Russian T-72 tank hidden in a forest near Mykolaiv was targeted last month by a drone that flew ten meters above the ground and was looking for the right position to strike. Only when the drone was perpendicular to the tank was the grenade weighing one and a half kilos dropped. The tank was full.

Soldiers also have to be careful. A Russian soldier was completely surprised by a drone last month. The soldier inspected a T-80 tank that, after a Ukrainian attack, had circled endlessly in a field and finally came to a halt. The drone dropped a small bomb that hit the T-80 in the front, close to the soldier. He fell to the ground and lay motionless.

A Ukrainian organization of drone specialists, Aerorozvidka, who managed to convince the army of the usefulness of drones years ago, is seen as the major driver behind the attacks with the quadcopters. “The Russians are afraid of us,” a member of Aerorozvidka, Mychajlo, told Radio Free Europe in July. “But they’re even more afraid of us at night when they can’t see our drones but can only hear them.”

‘In war you have to try everything, especially if it is a war of wear and tear as it is now in Ukraine’, says Brigadier General Ruud Vermeulen, former battalion commander of the Airmobile Brigade, about the Ukrainian attacks. “The grenades they use are not lethal to a tank or armored vehicle, but they can put the equipment out of action. And you can bet that after seeing the videos with grenades going through an open turret, the Russians will drive around more with closed turrets.’