Unprecedented battle footage of a drone dive bomber dumping bombs into Russian trenches recently surfaced in a social media video.
These little First Person View (FPV) drones, first made for drone racing, are now widely used in the current battle for kamikaze strikes. However, this is the first instance the drones have been seen dive bombing.
A representative of a Ukrainian volunteer organization, Steel Hornets, dedicated primarily to creating specialized drone armaments, acknowledged the widespread deployment of FPV dive bomber drones on the front lines, per Popular Mechanics.
At the same time, the footage's integrity is still unknown and unconfirmed, similar to many videos circulating during the Russia-Ukraine War.
How dangerous are FPV Drones?
FPV drones have the potential to become substantially more hazardous because to dive bombing, a strategy that was highly feared during World War II. Small drones in Ukraine have evolved like WWI aircraft, from unarmed scouts through makeshift weaponry, early dogfights, purpose-built bombers, and dive-bombing for accurate targeting.
In Ukraine, multi-copters hovering several hundred feet above a target are often used for drone bombing. Bombing is imprecise. Thus, striking a target in a critical place at this height may take multiple tries.
FPV drones lack the electronics necessary to hover steadily, fly gracefully around obstacles, and prevent crashing. Due to their affordability and easy-to-assemble feat, such kamikaze drones may be built from commercial parts for approximately $500. FPVs may also carry an effective anti-tank warhead because of their strong motors.
#Ukraine: Near Opytne, #Donetsk Oblast, an abandoned Russian BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicle was destroyed by the Ukrainian 110th Mechanized Brigade using no less than nine 40x53mm HEDP grenades dropped by drones. pic.twitter.com/E9Mn0FUKGn
— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) May 10, 2023
Ukraine's Drone Development Initiative
To help its military operations and grow the local drone sector, Ukraine has launched a program called "Army of Drones" that lowers import duties and taxes on drone technology.
The Ukrainian government aggressively seeks collaborations with drone manufacturers to satisfy the monthly demand for tens of thousands of FPV drones.
At a recent drone competition, several businesses indicated an interest in modifying their designs to meet military requirements and winning the backing of the Ukrainian government.
The commander of Ukraine's State Service of Special Communications, Brig. Gen. Yuriy Shchyhol stresses the importance of having various drone types and communication channels.
By the end of the year, Kyiv plans to buy up to 200,000 drones, with contracts for 2,000 of them already in place, according to CNN.
Meanwhile, the US firm Red Cat Holdings ordered 200 FPV drones for Ukraine, suggesting worldwide backing for drone development, as reported by Forbes.
Red Cat's spokesperson was unable to provide the new drone's name. The Red Cat FPV is probably going to be weaponized by adding a warhead, even if it does not appear to be characterized as being like the racing drones transformed into kamikazes.
According to the spokesperson, the drone's top range is 10 kilometers, and can function in a GPS-jammed environment. The technology is crucial because, in recent months, a growing number of quadcopters have been brought down by GPS jamming and spoofing.
Dive bombing FPV drones in the Russia-Ukraine War sparks concerns about the advancing military usage of unmanned aircraft technology. Ukraine is increasing drone manufacturing to take advantage of its combat advantages, but it is unclear how this will affect the continuing war.
