This is the dramatic moment a drone costing just £21,000 shot down a £6million Russian radar system.
The Podlyot radar complex was attacked by a Ukrainian drone earlier this week and footage showed how the system was devastated.
The clip shows a kamikaze drone, a Polish-made Warmate operated by Ukrainians, flying toward the system’s rotating radar dish, which can supposedly simultaneously detect up to 200 targets at a range of 190 miles.
A second clip showed another drone flying towards the power plant feeding power to the radar system.
Ukrainian intelligence wrote after the attack: “The fire caused damage to the antenna feed installation and the diesel station that powered the complex.”
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said on Telegram that Geese Unit 9 was responsible for destroying the radar complex, adding that it was a new piece of technology that has only been deployed since 2015.
The Podlyot radar complex was attacked by a Ukrainian drone earlier this week and footage showed how the system was devastated.
The clip shows a kamikaze drone, a Polish-made war buddy operated by Ukrainians, flying toward the system’s rotating radar dish.
The system is used to detect targets and send coordinated anti-aircraft systems S-300 and S-400.
While Ukraine’s use of drones in its defense against Russia has been successful, other elements of its military have not been as efficient.
Ukraine has been forced to shelve U.S.-supplied Abrams tanks for now in its fight against Russia, in part because Russian drone warfare has made it too difficult for them to operate undetected or under attack.
The United States agreed to send 31 Abrams to Ukraine in January 2023 after a months-long aggressive campaign by kyiv arguing that the tanks, which cost about $10 million each, were vital to its ability to breach Russian lines.
But the battlefield has changed substantially since then, not least by the ubiquitous use of Russian surveillance drones and hunter-killer drones, tactics also used to great effect by Ukraine’s armed forces.
Those weapons have made it harder for Ukraine to protect its American-made tanks, which Russian units consider high-priority targets.
Russian troops claimed to have destroyed the first Abrams tank in Ukraine in February, and several Russian military bloggers shared a video of burning armor following a drone strike.
Ukrainian intelligence wrote after the attack: “The fire caused damage to the antenna feed installation and the diesel station that powered the complex.”
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said on Telegram that Geese Unit 9 was responsible for destroying the radar complex.
The system is used to detect targets and send coordinated anti-aircraft systems S-300 and S-400.
Since then, Moscow’s forces have refined their strategy to confront Western armor.
Five of the 31 Abrams tanks in Ukraine have been destroyed in the last three months.
For now, the tanks have been moved from the front lines, and the United States will work with the Ukrainians to reset tactics, said the vice chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Christopher Grady, and a third defense official who confirmed the measure on the condition of anonymity.
“When you think about the way fighting has evolved, massive armor in an environment where unmanned aerial systems are ubiquitous may be at risk,” Grady said this week, adding that tanks are still important.
“Now there’s a way to do it,” he said.
“We will work with our Ukrainian partners and other partners on the ground to help them think about how they could use that, in that kind of changed environment now, where everything is seen immediately.”
