2024-07-03 07:57:14
The Ukrainians have repeatedly deployed “the strangest drone killers” into battle, writes the American website Forbes. The photo from June, which was circulating on social networks, is supposed to prove it. A Russian drone recorded a 1970s Yakovlev Yak-52 propeller-driven trainer approaching it with a crew of two.
The first footage from April shows the downing of the Orlan drone, the second video from June was shot by a Russian drone | Video: Telegram/ButusovPlus
According to Forbes, the footage shows two Ukrainian pilots watching a Russian drone from a few meters away, while the shooter in the open cockpit is said to be holding a shotgun designed to shoot down drones in the back seat.
“The Yak-52 crew is shooting at our drones like a shooting range,” one Russian military blogger complained last month, according to Forbes, comparing the method to aerial combat during the First World War.
Jakovlev’s crew should have already destroyed at least six Orlan drones and two ZALA drones. According to the server, they have small yellow airplanes painted under the cockpit on the green shell of the plane to prove it. Eight notches correspond to eight downed drones.
Already in mid-April, videos were circulating on social networks showing this training aircraft destroying a Russian Orlan surveillance drone over the Kherson region in the south of Ukraine at a speed of 190 kilometers per hour.
A similar video also appeared in early June. In this case, it was purchased and published by the Russians themselves. The gunman in the back seat was reaching for an object, probably a weapon, and was about to shoot down the ZALA drone.
When the first videos of these “air battles” appeared on social media, some experts speculated that the crew of the one-ton training aircraft had weapons slung under the wings or were using rocket launchers.
But as noted by Italian expert David Cenciotti, few Yak-52s were modified to carry weapons under the wings. Therefore, according to him, it is no surprise that Ukrainians themselves are shooting at drones with shotguns.
At a time when the Ukrainians are trying to save expensive surface-to-air missiles for Russia’s most powerful weapons, such as ballistic and cruise missiles, or the fighter-bombers themselves that drop devastating glide bombs, according to Forbes, a “guy with a shotgun” in a slow-moving propeller plane is a cheap way to , how to shoot down Russian drones far from the front line.
However, this method of liquidation is not easy for Ukrainians. Both the Yaku-52 pilot and the gunner in the back seat must be experienced and patient to even manage to hit the drone.
The Yak-52 was created in the Soviet Union in the 1970s as a successor to the successful Yak-50 model. With a wingspan of 9.5 meters and a maximum speed of 360 kilometers per hour, it became popular not only for training, but also for sports acrobatics.
Around 1,800 were produced since its launch, with production continuing until the late 1990s in Romania under a licensing agreement. It was then replaced by the modernized Yak-52M model, which is still in production today. However, the Yak-52 is still valued today for its robustness and reliability.
“Too many Russians report code 500.” Ukrainians scattered the elite of Putin’s army (full article with video here)
“Three days without food and water. I can’t walk, but I want to live,” says Russian soldier in tearful video | Video: Telegram/Mobilizacija Novosti