Ukraine's 59-Kill Cargo Plane Proves Low Tech Can Beat High Tech
Ukraine is launching every possible light plane to defend against swarms of Russian Shahed drones
Ukrainian forces have borrowed an Antonov An-28 light transport from a civilian operator, potentially a hobbyist flying club, and turned it into their latest drone-hunter.
As Russia’s drone swarms grow bigger, Ukraine’s defenses are getting simpler. And cheaper.
A photo that circulated online recently depicts an An-28 with 59 kill markings painted on its fuselage, most of them indicating shoot-downs of Shahed one-way attack drones.
The 200-kg Shahed has become Russia’s main weapon for striking Ukrainian cities. The $50,000 drone carries a 50-kg warhead thousands of kilometers under satellite guidance.
A Russian air raid on the night of 4 October included no fewer than 496 Shahed-style drones, 57 of which got through Ukrainian defenses.
The Ukrainians throw the drones off course with signal-jamming electronic warfare and shoot them down with ground-based guns and missiles and ground-launched interceptor drones.
One of the most efficient defenses is also one of the oldest. Borrowing tactics from World War I pilots, Ukrainian airmen fly light planes within meters of the Shaheds—and pepper them with gunfire from an open canopy or hatch.
Read the rest at Euromaidan Press.
How much do the ground-based SAMs and drone interceptors cost?