Moment £21,000 Ukrainian drone knocks out £6m Russian Podlyot radar system in fiery smash and grab
This is the dramatic moment a drone costing just £21,000 took out a £6m Russian radar system.
The Podlyot radar complex was hit by a Ukrainian drone earlier this week and images showed the system being destroyed.
The clip shows a kamikaze drone, a Polish-made Warmate piloted by Ukrainians, flying into the system’s rotating radar dish, which can supposedly simultaneously detect up to 200 targets up to a range of 300 kilometers.
A second clip showed another drone flying into the power plant and feeding the radar system.
Ukrainian intelligence wrote after the attack: “Successful fire damage was caused to the antenna feeder installation and the diesel station that supplies the complex with power.”
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said on Telegram that the Geese 9 unit was responsible for disabling the radar complex, adding that it was a new piece of technology that has only been deployed since 2015.
The Podlyot radar complex was hit by a Ukrainian drone earlier this week and images showed the system being destroyed.
The clip shows a kamikaze drone, a Polish-made Warmate piloted by Ukrainians, flying into the system’s rotating radar dish
The system is used to detect targets and send them in a coordinated manner to S-300 and S-400 anti-aircraft systems.
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 sideline US-supplied Abrams tanks for the time being in its fight against Russia, partly because Russia’s drone war has made it too difficult for them to operate without detection or being attacked.
The US agreed to send 31 Abrams to Ukraine in January 2023 after an aggressive months-long campaign by Kiev arguing that the tanks, which cost about $10 million each, were critical to the ability to break Russian lines to break through.
But the battlefield has changed substantially since then, especially with the ubiquitous use of Russian surveillance drones and hunter-killer drones – tactics also used to great effect by the Ukrainian armed forces.
These weapons have made it harder for Ukraine to protect its American-made tanks, which are considered high-priority targets by Russian units.
Russian forces claimed to have destroyed the first Abrams tank in Ukraine in February, with several Russian military bloggers sharing a fragment of the armor catching fire after a drone strike.
Ukrainian intelligence wrote after the attack: “Successful fire damage was caused to the antenna feeder installation and the diesel station that supplies the complex.”
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said on Telegram that the Geese 9 unit was responsible for disabling the radar complex
The system is used to detect targets and send them in a coordinated manner to S-300 and S-400 anti-aircraft systems
Since then, Moscow’s armed forces have sharpened their approach to Western armor.
Five of Ukraine’s 31 Abrams tanks have been destroyed in the past three months.
For now, the tanks have been moved from the front lines and the US will work with the Ukrainians to reset tactics, said US Joint Chiefs of Staff Vice Chairman Christopher Grady and a third defense official who confirmed the move on condition of anonymity.
“If you think about the way the battle has evolved, mass armor in an environment where unmanned aerial systems are ubiquitous could 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 to use that, in such a changed environment now, where everything is immediately visible.”