Forbes: Ukrainian UAVs Destroyed Russian ‘Miracle Weapons’ Depot
- 2.05.2024, 10:41
Serious damage was caused to Russian tactical aviation.
The Russian Air Force drops up to 3,000 adjustable KAB bombs on the Ukrainian positions on the front line every month. That is why last Saturday, April 27, Ukraine sent dozens of long-range drones to an airbase in the south of the Russian Federation and blew up a warehouse full of "smart" kits for cabs. Forbes reported.
Video and satellite imagery from the aftermath of the attack on Kushchyovskaya air base, 200 km from the front line in southern Ukraine, depict burned-out buildings and heaps of wrecked KABs. The overhead imagery may also hint at the destruction of at least one Sukhoi Su-34 fighter bomber—the Russian air force’s primary KAB carrier.
To change the balance of firepower, you will need much more than one raid on bases with air bombs.
Ukraine's ability to damage Russian tactical aircraft, especially those using adjustable bombs, will be key for defence, the UK Ministry of Defense noted.
Since the middle of last year, the KAB has been the Russian air force's primary aerial munition. The bombs, rough analogues of the U.S.-made Joint Direct Attack Munition-Extended Range and French-made Hammer glide bombs—both of which arm the Ukrainian air force’s own fighter bombers—range 25 miles on pop-out wings. They help keep Russian jets outside the range of Ukrainian air defenses.
Each KAB packs hundreds of pounds of explosives, the explosion leaves a crater 6 meters deep and about 20 meters wide.
"All buildings and structures simply turn into a pit after the arrival of just one KAB," wrote Egor Sugar, a trooper with the Ukrainian 3rd Assault Brigade.
The KAB is a “miracle weapon” for the Russians, Ukrainian analysis group Deep State noted. And the Ukrainians have “practically no countermeasures.” Except, perhaps, to blow up the sheds where the Russians store the bombs before loading them four apiece onto their Su-34s.
It’s unclear exactly which drones the Ukrainians flung at Kushchyovskaya. They’ve got options, including ex-Soviet spy drones with warheads in the place of their cameras, modified hobby drones packing pounds of TNT and pilotless sport planes with bombs under their bellies.
Be that as it may, this attack was a large-scale one. The Russian Federation reported that 66 drones were shot down. But not all. One definitely hit, probably, the main goal of the raid: a barn full of KAB bombs. By destroying perhaps dozens of bombs, Ukrainian drone operators gave their comrades at the front a short respite — a day or so.
But many more raids on Russian bases will be needed to significantly limit the Russian attacks on the KABs in the long term.
Recall that the expert explained whether in the new supplies of American weapons for $61 billion there are means of protection against KAB.
It was also reported that, according to ISW, for the Russian Ministry of Defense, the mass production of effective Troika and Ogonyok electronic warfare systems seems too expensive. Therefore, the Lesochek and Volnorez EWs are used, which do not protect against FPV.