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18-05-2024, 11:21 PM
Early April, a plane resembling an Aeroprakt A-22 Foxbat civilian plane could be seen hitting Russia’s drone plant and oil refinery in Tatarstan alongside a UJ-22 Airborne drone, 1,265 km away from Ukraine. DRONES AVIATION WAR IN UKRAINE
Slow and Steady: How Ukraine’s Sophisticated ‘Flying Bricks’ Pound Russia’s Drone Factory
Experts have jokingly called the A-22 a “flying brick,” but it has successfully delivered payloads deep inside Russia while retrofitted with advanced technology inside an unassuming aircraft.
Ukraine’s Sophisticated ‘Flying Bricks’ Pound Russia’s Drone Factory
In early April, a plane resembling an Aeroprakt A-22 Foxbat civilian plane could be seen hitting Russia’s drone plant and oil refinery in Tatarstan alongside a UJ-22 Airborne drone, 1,265 km away from Ukraine the improvised A-22 is a “rather complex weapon system” with the need to incorporate explosives and guidance technology into the existing airframe.
A-22 Foxbat: Background information
Developed in the 1990s, the A-22 Foxbat is a two-seat, high-wing, tricycle landing gear ultralight aircraft manufactured by Aeroprakt in Kyiv.
“Aeroprakt-22 is an aircraft of classic aircraft layout. The design goal was to create an aircraft maximum level of safety, comfort and rugged construction. It [has a] pleasant appearance, pilot seats situated side-by-side (preferred by many) and steerable nose wheel (for easier ground handling),” Aeroprakt’s website.
There are multiple variants available, but none of their top speed exceeds 200 kph – a number that is no match for S-300 missiles flying at Mach 6 (7,409 kph). Speculations on military conversions
It’s not clear how the Ukrainian military converted the drones, but it can be assumed that the plane was equipped with remote flight control or self-contained guidance systems and explosives.
Some sources claim the civilian versions can carry a “useful load of over 600 pounds (272 kg),” which is not substantial in terms of firepower, but still more than five times higher than Shahed’s 50 kg warhead. This is slightly more weight than a US/NATO-standard general-purpose Mk-82 (500 pound/227 kg) aerial bomb used by many combat aircraft worldwide.
Some of the payload capacity would be used for the equipment converting it to an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), reducing the amount of explosives that could be added in its conversion to a kamikaze drone.
It’s also possible the Ukrainian military modified the airframe and engine to increase the payload capacity during its single one-way operational flight, though this would be speculation at best.
As for controlling the drone, some Russian sources have speculated that Starlink satellite communication devices were used, though SpaceX’s official geofencing policies would likely render the service unavailable in Russia unless circumvented.
Again, it would not be possible to know for certain how Ukraine communicated with the remote control system believed to be on board the converted A-22, but it could be as simple as using a Russian SIM card, similar to how Moscow used Ukrainian SIM cards in their Shahed drones.
Why the A-22?
The fact that the drone flew more than 1,000 km to Tatarstan unhindered has demonstrated its effectiveness, but it also begs the question – how did it fly without being detected and downed by Russia?. According to a former F-16 pilot employed by Kyiv Post, the A-22’s slow speed could ultimately be its greatest advantage in sneaking through radar detections.
“Drone would be able to fly below velocity of the pulse-doppler filter speed makes the reduction of ground clutter or radar returns,” he Meanwhile, Fabian Hoffmann told Business Insider drone's presumed low attitude when flying could also help it avoid radar detection – while it could still be identified visually, fact that it got through more than a thousand kilometers showed Russian air defense has a capacity issue. “Once you have countermeasures in place, it should be really easy to shoot this thing down,” said Hoffman.
Last, perhaps most probable explanation, as Kyiv Post posited – Russia might have simply thought it was an ordinary civilian plane. This may be its biggest advantage as a commercially available civilian aircraft, it may mistaken for a Russian oligarch/private pilot out for a joy ride. A-22’s innate stealth is that it hides in plain sight.
FACT-CHECKING
“Last week, an aircraft that looks similar to the A-22 was spotted in an attack on an oil refinery in the Republic of Bashkortostan,” the report read.
Upon reviewing footage of the Bashkortostan strike, Kyiv Post believed the drone resembled the UJ-22 Airborne drone due to the lack of a thinning tail-end spotted on A-22 Foxbats.
Screenshot of a video depicting the drone used on May 9’s Bashkortostan strike. The silhouette of the drone does not possess the thinning tail-end found on A-22 Foxbats. Photo: Telegram/Mash
For reference, here’s a picture of the UJ-22 drone.
However, Kyiv Post has managed to confirm visually that a drone resembling the A-22 Foxbat was indeed used in April’s strike on Tatarstan, where the plane’s silhouette corresponded to that of an A-22, from footage of April’s Tatarstan drone strike. To date, it is not clear on how many occasions Ukraine deployed the converted A-22 drones against Russian targets.
https://www.kyivpost.com/post/32834
Slow and Steady: How Ukraine’s Sophisticated ‘Flying Bricks’ Pound Russia’s Drone Factory
Experts have jokingly called the A-22 a “flying brick,” but it has successfully delivered payloads deep inside Russia while retrofitted with advanced technology inside an unassuming aircraft.
Ukraine’s Sophisticated ‘Flying Bricks’ Pound Russia’s Drone Factory
In early April, a plane resembling an Aeroprakt A-22 Foxbat civilian plane could be seen hitting Russia’s drone plant and oil refinery in Tatarstan alongside a UJ-22 Airborne drone, 1,265 km away from Ukraine the improvised A-22 is a “rather complex weapon system” with the need to incorporate explosives and guidance technology into the existing airframe.
A-22 Foxbat: Background information
Developed in the 1990s, the A-22 Foxbat is a two-seat, high-wing, tricycle landing gear ultralight aircraft manufactured by Aeroprakt in Kyiv.
“Aeroprakt-22 is an aircraft of classic aircraft layout. The design goal was to create an aircraft maximum level of safety, comfort and rugged construction. It [has a] pleasant appearance, pilot seats situated side-by-side (preferred by many) and steerable nose wheel (for easier ground handling),” Aeroprakt’s website.
There are multiple variants available, but none of their top speed exceeds 200 kph – a number that is no match for S-300 missiles flying at Mach 6 (7,409 kph). Speculations on military conversions
It’s not clear how the Ukrainian military converted the drones, but it can be assumed that the plane was equipped with remote flight control or self-contained guidance systems and explosives.
Some sources claim the civilian versions can carry a “useful load of over 600 pounds (272 kg),” which is not substantial in terms of firepower, but still more than five times higher than Shahed’s 50 kg warhead. This is slightly more weight than a US/NATO-standard general-purpose Mk-82 (500 pound/227 kg) aerial bomb used by many combat aircraft worldwide.
Some of the payload capacity would be used for the equipment converting it to an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), reducing the amount of explosives that could be added in its conversion to a kamikaze drone.
It’s also possible the Ukrainian military modified the airframe and engine to increase the payload capacity during its single one-way operational flight, though this would be speculation at best.
As for controlling the drone, some Russian sources have speculated that Starlink satellite communication devices were used, though SpaceX’s official geofencing policies would likely render the service unavailable in Russia unless circumvented.
Again, it would not be possible to know for certain how Ukraine communicated with the remote control system believed to be on board the converted A-22, but it could be as simple as using a Russian SIM card, similar to how Moscow used Ukrainian SIM cards in their Shahed drones.
Why the A-22?
The fact that the drone flew more than 1,000 km to Tatarstan unhindered has demonstrated its effectiveness, but it also begs the question – how did it fly without being detected and downed by Russia?. According to a former F-16 pilot employed by Kyiv Post, the A-22’s slow speed could ultimately be its greatest advantage in sneaking through radar detections.
“Drone would be able to fly below velocity of the pulse-doppler filter speed makes the reduction of ground clutter or radar returns,” he Meanwhile, Fabian Hoffmann told Business Insider drone's presumed low attitude when flying could also help it avoid radar detection – while it could still be identified visually, fact that it got through more than a thousand kilometers showed Russian air defense has a capacity issue. “Once you have countermeasures in place, it should be really easy to shoot this thing down,” said Hoffman.
Last, perhaps most probable explanation, as Kyiv Post posited – Russia might have simply thought it was an ordinary civilian plane. This may be its biggest advantage as a commercially available civilian aircraft, it may mistaken for a Russian oligarch/private pilot out for a joy ride. A-22’s innate stealth is that it hides in plain sight.
FACT-CHECKING
“Last week, an aircraft that looks similar to the A-22 was spotted in an attack on an oil refinery in the Republic of Bashkortostan,” the report read.
Upon reviewing footage of the Bashkortostan strike, Kyiv Post believed the drone resembled the UJ-22 Airborne drone due to the lack of a thinning tail-end spotted on A-22 Foxbats.
Screenshot of a video depicting the drone used on May 9’s Bashkortostan strike. The silhouette of the drone does not possess the thinning tail-end found on A-22 Foxbats. Photo: Telegram/Mash
For reference, here’s a picture of the UJ-22 drone.
However, Kyiv Post has managed to confirm visually that a drone resembling the A-22 Foxbat was indeed used in April’s strike on Tatarstan, where the plane’s silhouette corresponded to that of an A-22, from footage of April’s Tatarstan drone strike. To date, it is not clear on how many occasions Ukraine deployed the converted A-22 drones against Russian targets.
https://www.kyivpost.com/post/32834
