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By now, many will have seen the video of a Ukrainian drone dropping a small bomb through the sunscreen (!) of a car driven by Russian soldiers. Here's a short thread on how it was done (with thanks to @ian_matveev, on whose thread this is based). /1 https://t.co/EIm3aW1nWn
— ChrisO_wiki (@ChrisO_wiki) May 1, 2022
It weighs about 350g (12.3oz) A hobbyist drone like a DJI Phantom 3 is easily capable of carrying one of these. As two grenades were used in this attack, it suggests that a bigger drone was used, two drones were used or the same drone was used to attack twice in succession. /3 pic.twitter.com/AugCtWpyEz
— ChrisO_wiki (@ChrisO_wiki) May 1, 2022
The VOG-17 grenade itself contains only 36g (1.2oz) of explosive and can't seriously damage equipment. But there is a lot of such ammunition in Ukraine. It's usually fired from an AG-17 automatic grenade launcher, a Soviet equivalent of the US Mk 19. /5 pic.twitter.com/aYASDwcRMB
— ChrisO_wiki (@ChrisO_wiki) May 1, 2022
But how do you destroy an armoured vehicle with an off-the-shelf drone? Ukraine appears to have been using a few different approaches. One of the most effective has been to repurpose the RKG-3, an old Soviet-era type of anti-tank grenade dating to 1950. /7 pic.twitter.com/lB0bWZYmqk
— ChrisO_wiki (@ChrisO_wiki) May 1, 2022
During testing, drone pilots were able to hit a target 1m (3ft) in size from an altitude of 300m (900 ft). At that altitude the drone would have been virtually invisible and inaudible. /9 pic.twitter.com/i3cnjTs7NM
— ChrisO_wiki (@ChrisO_wiki) May 1, 2022
The effect of these can be seen in the video below. /11 pic.twitter.com/LnMgmBJFgF
— ChrisO_wiki (@ChrisO_wiki) May 1, 2022
You can bet that military strategists will be watching this with great interest. Drones are now able to effectively snipe soldiers and equipment with great precision, likely undetected, at any time of the day or night and in most weather conditions. /13
— ChrisO_wiki (@ChrisO_wiki) May 1, 2022
@shashj @TrentTelenko @WarintheFuture @UAWeapons @CovertShores @KofmanMichael @IAPonomarenko @JoshManning23 @pmakela1 @McFaul
— ChrisO_wiki (@ChrisO_wiki) May 1, 2022
weehingthong 