War in Ukraine: Aerorozvidka, the squadron of drone pilots that keeps the Russians awake

While its air force suffered very heavy losses from the first hours of therussian invasion on its soil, Ukraine does more than defend itself against enemy raids. Besides the effectiveness of missile ground-to-air, it is thanks to his mastery of drone that Ukraine manages to resist the Russians and create great damage. According to The Week and The Timesthere is an elite unit of drone pilots in Ukraine, called Aerorozvidka. According to these two publications, it comprises around fifty teams, perfectly coordinated, and its strong point is to strike at night while the Russian soldiers are sleeping…

Initially, it was a group of Ukrainian civilian defenders who used crowdfunding to launch Aerorozvidka in 2014. Eight years ago, this unit had already caused problems for the Russians during the annexation of Crimea at the time. Since then, this organization has become more professional and its efficiency even allowed it to be integrated into the Ukrainian Armed Forces in 2015. It now receives funding from both the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense and the general public, reports The Defense Post.

When Elon Musk plays an essential role

According to The Week, this squadron is based in particular on the Bayraktar TB2, these drones of Turkish manufacture, inexpensive and enduring, and capable of carrying out air strikes on tanks, supply trucks, vehicles transporting electronic equipment and other targets. According to The Timesthis elite Ukrainian drone unit destroyed dozens of “priority targets” by attacking Russian forces during their sleep, and she carries out 300 missions every day! During the day, it is simply a matter of spotting the movements troops to better surprise them at night.

” Russian forces are static when night fallsexplains one of the pilots to the Times. Their fear of Ukrainian shelling forces them to hide their tanks in villages between houses, knowing that conventional artillery cannot risk hitting civilians. Except that these pilots assure that they are so precise that they can approach targets without causing collateral damage.

A precision that they also owe to the quality of their connection between the drone and their command post, and they can thank Elon Musk and star linkher constellation satellite internet providers. ” If we use a night drone with thermal vision, it must connect via star link to the artillery soldier and perform target acquisition », confirms to Times Yaroslav Honchar, the head of the Aerorozvidka.

A two-step approach

This target acquisition is carried out in two stages, via two types of drones. First there is the scouting phase with a consumer drone like the DJI Mavic 2 Company. With its thermal camera, it is used to locate Russian military vehicles. Then the group sends a big drone custom-built octocopter, capable of dropping pomegranates anti-tanks with precision.

” At night it is impossible to see our dronesconcluded a soldier from Aerorozvidka, on condition of anonymity. We specifically look for the most important truck in the convoy, then we hit it with precision and we can do it very well with very low collateral damage – even in villages it’s possible. At night we can get closer. »

A strategy to which Russia plans to respond since the New York Times reports on Tuesday that the Russians have now decided to carry out their bombardments at night, both to be less visible to surface-to-air missiles, but also to respond to these drone attacks.

All about Bayraktar TB2 drones, masters of the sky in Ukraine and reputed to be formidable

It has become the star of the skies for Ukrainians. True or false, images of the destruction of Russian vehicles and weapon systems caused by the Ukrainian army’s low-cost Bayraktar TB2 drones are multiplying on the social networks. This small armed drone is part of kyiv’s assets to inflict heavy losses on the invader and slow it down.

Posted on 03/07/2022 by Louis Neveu

Since the start of therussian invasion, Ukraine is resisting fiercely. One of its assets comes from the sky with attack drones which prove to be formidable for Russian armor, logistics vehicles and missile systems. More than the mythology of the “ghost of kyiv”, a famous Ukrainian Mig 29 pilot who would have accumulated several aerial victories in a single day, the true hero of the skies is the Bayraktar TB2. I’aircraft Turk has even been celebrated for a few days with a song to his glory broadcast on YouTube. Six copies of this drone had been delivered by Turkey in 2019 and were used to carry out the war in the Donbass against pro-Russian separatists. In September 2021, Ukraine decided to buy 24 more drones, which angered Vladimir Putin. The Russian President then criticized the sale of these devices during a telephone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The Bayraktar TB2 was designed by the company Baykar Makina, it has a empennage in V carried by two beams. Its cabin consisting of carbon fiber and composite materials is flattened to optimize the lift. It is powered by a thermal motor placed at the rear of the aircraft. In terms of dimensions, with a wingspan of 12 meters and a length of 6.5 meters for a mass maximum of 650 kilos, it is small compared to the MQ-9 Reaper American used, for example by the French army. Much lighter, less powerful, it is able to stay in theair more than 24 hours at an altitude of 6,800 meters. This stamina with the ability to fly at very low speed makes it an ideal tool for reconnaissance and intelligence.

New drone deliveries

Under its wings, the drone can also carry up to four guided missiles laser Turkish made Roketsan MAM. Light (15 kilos) and compact missiles that demonstrate formidable efficiency against Russian armored vehicles, vehicles carrying ammunition and even troops. Thus, with his strikes, 70 Chechen soldiers sent to reinforcement have been killed recently. Another advantage is that it is possible to fly several drones at the same time to maintain permanent surveillance. If therussian army succeeded in destroying some of these drones, the Ukrainian Minister of Defense announced that a new delivery of these drones took place recently.

Considered a low-cost drone despite a unit cost of 5 million dollars, the Bayraktar TB2 did not know its baptism of fire in Ukraine. It had been used in Libya and Syria to destroy the systems of missile anti-aircraft. It was especially revealed during the summer of 2020 during the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. It was then used to destroy Armenian vehicles. A mission he accomplished with great efficiency.