Ukrainian Forces Launch Big Boom Drones From Big Rig Trucks
Fire Point FP-1/2s travel in civilian-style trailers
Ukrainian drone-maker Fire Point reportedly churns out thousands of its $50,000 FP-1 and FP-2 one-way attack drones every month. And every month, Ukrainian drone units launch the propeller-driven, first-person-view drones at Russian air defenses, headquarters, drone bases and warships as far as 600 miles from the disputed gray zone.
And now, in a possible breach of operational security, we’ve seen how Ukrainian drone units launch their FP-1s and big-boom FP-2s. The FP-2 trades away fuel in order to carry a 350-pound warhead, up from 230 pounds, and as a consequence ranges just 130 miles.
The Ukrainians launch at least some of the FP-1s and FP-2s from modified civilian-style tractor trailers that presumably travel along Ukraine’s highways. The trailers open along the side, revealing at least three FP-1/2s on cradles. New nighttime imagery depicts the trailers.
To launch a Fire Point drone, usually under the cover of darkness, operators first spin up the drone’s two-cylinder engine. Then they trigger an underslung rocket that boosts the drone to cruising speed. The drone jettisons the spent rocket booster a few seconds later.
It was obvious Ukrainian FP-1/2 launch teams traveled in trucks: most drone launch teams on both sides of Russia’s 52-month wider war on Ukraine travel in trucks. In that sense, the new imagery of the Fire Point trailer launcher revealed nothing new.
The new information is the trailer’s exact appearance. That’s a possible security breach because both sides in the wider war are deploying more and more A.I.-assisted drones that can be trained to autonomously spot and strike certain targets.
