Battling the Russian Military Ukraine- Style

"If you're taking fire, the first thing you do is take cover and understand where the fire is coming from."

 "You can pop up a drone in 60 seconds or less and put eyes on the threat."

Chuck McGraw, who leads Skydio's federal sales and deployed drones as a Navy SEAL in Iraq

"Our drones are our eyes."

"If Russian artillery is preparing to strike, we can shift civilians. ... It's a possibility to make a preventive strike and to save Ukrainian people."

" Ukrainians are using about 1,000 drones in the war effort. Many are mere] toys, but we have what we have."

"In Ukrainian we have a joke: Every time we have a new mouse, someone will construct a new mouse catcher."

Ukrainian military officer

 

"The tank was key at one point. Now drones may be the more decisive weapons system."

"The Russians are a little behind in this game, and the Ukrainians have proved extremely inventive."

John Parachini, military researcher, Rand Corp.

A Turkish drone in a military parade in Kyiv in 2021. Efrem Lukatsky / AP

The Ukraine military has an extremely effective defence mechanism in the use of 3D-printing technology. Using outdated grenades, the addition of plastic fins turn them into airborne destructive forces, fired from the air by drone. Aerorozvidka, originally a civilian group, now absorbed into the Ukrainian military, released photos showing Soviet-era grenades complete with new fin assemblies.

 

Thus modified, the grenades become highly accurate and have the capability to destroy Russian tanks and other amour, striking the top of the tank turret. They have become the new snipers of the battlefield; unseen, and lethal. Their usefulness has instilled a sense of insecurity in the minds of Russian tank personnel where their tanks and armoured vehicles are no longer places of safety on the battlefield but deathtraps.

 

It is theorized that Soviet0era RKG0-3 anti-tank ordnance with 3D-printed tail fins are stabilized when they fall with a blast able to penetrate about 8in of steel armour plating. Since the upper armour of a Russian BMP)=3 infantry fighting vehicle is roughly half of that, the situation is clearly in the Ukrainian military's favour when an accuraqte aim can result in a tank turret blown clear of the hull.

 

Photographs of tank turrets blown to smithereens have been ample on social media. The grenade weighs about a kilogram, able to hit a one-metre target from a height of 290 metres, renamed the RKG-1500. Ukrainian-made octocopter drones with two RKG-1800 bomblets mounted beneath them have been shown in videos released by Aerorozvidka. Footage showing one of the modified grenades being dropped through the sunroof of a vehicle carrying fleeing Russian troops was shown on social media.

 

The price of the drone is roughly $12 and an RKG-1500 is costed under $125; an extremely cost-effective strategy to challenge a larger army, since each Russian BMP-3 tank costs about $1 million. A new use of 3D printing in warfare. The technique, before long, will be used in even more complex weapons systems.