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Ukrainian drone brigade claims to have stopped 40-mile column of Russian tanks – video
One week into its invasion of Ukraine, Russia massed a 40-mile mechanised column in order to mount an overwhelming attack on Kyiv from the north.
But the convoy of armoured vehicles and supply trucks ground to a halt within days, and the offensive failed, in significant part because of a series of night ambushes carried out by a team of 30 Ukrainian special forces and drone operators on quad bikes, according to a Ukrainian commander.
The drone operators were drawn from an air reconnaissance unit, Aerorozvidka, which began eight years ago as a group of volunteer IT specialists and hobbyists designing their own machines and has evolved into an essential element in Ukraine's successful David-and-Goliath resistance.
However, while Ukraine's western backers have supplied thousands of anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles and other military equipment, Aerorozvidka has been forced to resort to crowdfunding and a network of personal contacts in order to keep going, by getting hold of components such as advanced modems and thermal imaging cameras, in the face of export controls that prohibit them being sent to Ukraine.
The unit's commander, Lt Col Yaroslav Honchar, gave an account of the ambush near the town of Ivankiv that helped stop the vast, lumbering Russian offensive in its tracks. He said the Ukrainian fighters on quad bikes were able to approach the advancing Russian column at night by riding through the forest on either side of the road leading south towards Kyiv from the direction of Chernobyl.
The Ukrainian soldiers were equipped with night vision goggles, sniper rifles, remotely detonated mines, drones equipped with thermal imaging cameras and others capable of dropping small 1.5kg bombs.
"This one little unit in the night destroyed two or three vehicles at the head of this convoy, and after that it was stuck. They stayed there two more nights, and [destroyed] many vehicles," Honchar said.
A drone is assembled by the Aerorozvidka unit. Photograph: Aerorozvidka
The Russians broke the column into smaller units to try to make headway towards the Ukrainian capital, but the same assault team was able to mount an attack on its supply depot, he claimed, crippling the Russians' capacity to advance.
"The first echelon of the Russian force was stuck without heat, without oil, without bombs and without gas. And it all happened because of the work of 30 people," Honchar said.
The Aerorozvidka unit also claims to have helped defeat a Russian airborne attack on Hostomel airport, just north-west of Kyiv, in the first day of the war, using drones to locate, target and shell about 200 Russian paratroopers concealed at one end of the airfield.
"That contributed largely to the fact that they could not use this airfield for further development of their attack," saaid Lt Taras, one of Honchar's aides.
Drone footage shows Ukrainian ambush on Russian tanks
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Not all the details of these claims could be independently verified, but US defence officials have said that Ukrainian attacks contributed to the halting of the armoured column around Ivankiv. The huge amount of aerial combat footage published by the Ukrainians underlines the importance of drones to their resistance.
The unit was started by young university-educated Ukrainians who had been part of the 2014 Maidan uprising and volunteered to use their technical skills in the resistance against the first Russian invasion in Crimea and the Donbas region. Its founder, Volodymyr Kochetkov-Sukach, was an investment banker who was killed in action in 2015 in Donbas – a reminder of the high risks involved. The Russians can latch on to the drone's electronic signature and quickly strike with mortars, so the Aerorozvidka teams have to launch and run.
Honchar is an ex-soldier turned IT marketing consultant, who returned to the army after the first Russian invasion. Taras, who asked not to use his surname, was a management consultant, who specialised in fundraising for the unit and only joined full-time as a combatant in February.
In its early days, the unit used commercial surveillance drones, but its team of engineers, software designers and drone enthusiasts later developed their own designs.
They built a range of surveillance drones, as well as large 1.5-metre eight-rotor machines capable of dropping bombs and rocket-propelled anti-tank grenades, and created a system called Delta, a network of sensors along the frontlines that fed into a digital map so commanders could see enemy movements as they happened. It now uses the Starlink satellite system, supplied by Elon Musk, to feed live data to Ukrainian artillery units, allowing them to zero in on Russian targets.
The unit was disbanded in 2019 by the then defence minister, but it was hastily revived in October last year as the Russian invasion threat loomed.
The ability to maintain an aerial view of Russian movements has been critical to the success of Ukraine's guerrilla-style tactics. But Aerorozvidka's efforts to expand, and to replace lost equipment, have been hindered by a limited supply of drones and components, and efforts to secure them through defence ministry procurement have produced little, partly because they are a recent addition to the armed forces and still considered outsiders.
Furthermore, some of the advanced modems and thermal-imaging cameras made in the US and Canada are subject to export controls, so they have resorted to crowdfunding and asking a global network of friends and supporters to find them on eBay or other websites.
Marina Borozna, who was an economics student at university with Taras, is exploring ways of buying what the unit needs and finding routes to get the supplies across the border.
"I know there are people who want to help them fight, people who want to do a bit more than the humanitarian aid," Borozna said. "If you want to address the root cause of this human suffering, you've got to defeat the Russian invasion. Aerorozvidka makes a huge difference and they need our support."
Her partner, Klaus Hentrich, a molecular biologist in Cambridge, is also helping the effort, drawing on his experience as a conscript in the German army.
"I was in an artillery reconnaissance unit myself, so I immediately realised the outsized impact that Aerorozvidka has. They effectively give eyes to their artillery," Hentrich said. "Where we can make a difference is to rally international support, be it financial contributions, help to get harder-to-find technical components or donations of common civilian drones."
Military supplies depleted on both sides but Russia retains advantage
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The unit is also looking at ways to overcome Russian jamming, part of the electronic warfare being waged in Ukraine in parallel to the bombs, shells and missiles. At present, Aerorozvidka typically waits for the Russians turn off their jamming equipment to launch their own drones, and then it sends up its machines at the same time. The unit then concentrates its firepower on the electronic warfare vehicles.
Honchar describes these technological battles, and Aerorozvidka's way of fighting, as the future of warfare, in which swarms of small teams networked together by mutual trust and advanced communications can overwhelm a bigger and more heavily armed adversary.
"We are like a hive of bees," he said. "One bee is nothing, but if you are faced with a thousand, it can defeat a big force. We are like bees, but we work at night."
Could this mean the larger commercial jets might make a comeback?
Bigger capacity jets are still in widespread use and are under development, the 777X has a similar pax capacity to the 747-400, but these days, "two engines good, four engines bad" is the mantra. Mind you, despite production of he A380 ending, there are still a number of these aircraft operating around the world - Air China, Emirates, Korean and others still operate A380s and they'll be around for awhile before they get replaced entirely by the more efficient twins. All the airlines that currently operate the big four engined beasties all operate smaller capacity but more efficient twins.
These days however, the A350 and Dreamliner lead widebody sales, but large capacity aircraft still have a place as airlines contemplate what to do about putting in place COVID restrictions - Japan Airlines is one of a number of airlines that want to reduce total pax capacity to restrict the spread of COVID on its aircraft.
Another advantage to the big Bus in particular is space for a four class cabin, First, Business, Premium and Economy. Full Service Carriers trade on differentiation strategies to maintain a competitive advantage. Singapore Airlines was the A380's first customer and Emirates the second, both offering First Class suites as a point of difference to their competitors, although Etihad has its The Residence First Class suites aboard its A380s. Etihad Dreamliners have three class only, with Business up front.
It's worth noting that Premium and Business is where airlines make their money long haul, not Economy, so the maintenance of high end luxury in that middle bracket is where the majority of airlines sit. Offering First Class, despite the high cost for passengers is quite expensive for the airlines and only the biggest really can afford to offer a consistent true First Class product. It's not just a seat and bed in your own cabin with freshly prepared food and specialty beverages, but airport lounges, exclusive check-in facilities and fast-track boarding privileges, as well as chauffer driven door-to-door service, for example. All this costs money and the airfare costs barely cut it, so true First Class is very costly for airlines and can really only be implemented in aircraft like the A380 and at a stretch the B777 to make money.
The Big Boys will be around for a little while yet.
True, Mark, you're right, but it sits within the subject as the war has most definitely affected the airline industry and airlines are scrambling to deal with increased fuel costs and flight times because they are being routed outside Russian airspace. It has relevance. Having to spend more time aboard aircraft means that paying extra for better in-flight service because people are in the air for longer becomes a real choice...
Besides, gotta put this degree to some use...
Yes they really should do some reno work on that T-34 and drag that modern art junk out of the way. A tractor would probably manage the job.Oh. I thought the article was about the T-34 behind the garden sculpture.
Yes they really should do some reno work on that T-34 and drag that modern art junk out of the way. A tractor would probably manage the job.
Yes you're right. I forgot about the tax break.Or a backhoe. They save the tractors for tanks that are still worth something.
Just looking through the last few pages (they mount up quickly in this thread) the nuclear question posed here becomes very pertinent.So now this begs the question:
How well prepared are Putler's nuclear forces?
It's clear that post-Soviet Russia's forces (land/sea/air) have suffered due to lack of funding, corruption, inept training and have proven to fall far short of his boasts and claims.
His saber-rattling with nukes (just as he did with his military) may ultimately be his last ditch effort since nothing else is working in his favor, yes, but has the system and equipment been kept free of corruption and slip-shod maintenance?
What degree of training has the the personnel received?
The list of questions goes on, but the bottom line is, do those things even work?
I don't want to find out if they do, of course. However, seeing the piss-poor performance of the mighty Russian military so far, this has crossed my mind.
The T-34 need some work in the right thread!
Firstly I do not believe that Zar Putin will use strategic nuclear weapons. - there is absolutely no need for that.One thing that seems to be overlooked, is that the USN has Aegis cruisers stationed in the Med and Baltic region.
*if* a nuclear weapon (tactical or otherwise) were to be launched from Russia (and the satellite systems are really good at pinpointing what/where) there is no doubt that there would be an immediate intercept to counter the launch.
Putler's chest beating and theatrics are being taken seriously and it appears that he hasn't stopped to realize that the west is on a higher state of alert than has been seen since the early 1960's. All he has to do is twitch and he will most certainly reap the whirlwind.
Guess we would have to see - which wouldn't be a great thought. AFAIK there is presently no 100% ensuring system towards that issue. Not even 50%.Is the Aegis one of the automatic weapons systems ?
Is there anything to stop ICBM's or is that capable as well ?
okay - got you, yes correct.That the aircraft are circa 1980's-1990's. What isn't, was purchased from Australia, although that may be incorrect and I stand to be corrected.
ARCHIVED - CF-18 Hornet Estimated Life Expectancy - Canada.ca
This report is about the estimated life expectancy of the CF 18 Hornet.www.canada.ca
Jim