Ukraine Keeps Blowing Up Russia's Biggest Unflyable Warplanes

Scratch two old Tupolev Tu-142s

Motoring at least 130 miles to Taganrog in southern Russia’s Rostov Oblast, Fire Point FP-1/2 one-way attack drones from the Ukrainian Unmanned Systems Forces’ 1st Separate Unmanned Systems Center struck two Tupolev Tu-142 maritime patrol planes on Saturday.

The 1970s-vintage Tu-142 is a big, rare and irreplaceable asset. The Russian navy operates just two dozen or so of the lumbering, four-engine Tu-142s for patrol and strategic communication missions.

There’s a good chance both airframes the 1st Center hit at Taganrog South Airfield—part of a sprawling aviation campus in Taganrog that also includes a second airfield as well as airplane factories—were badly damaged if not totally destroyed. “Taganrog, how's it going?” the 1st Center quipped.