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.
