Drone Hunt

With drones being as present as ever, gathering intelligence and taking out billions of dollars worth of equipment, it became crucial to fight them directly. But unmanned machines grow resistant to radio- electronic measures, even invulnerable as, for example, ones controlled through optic fiber. So the counter measures had to become physical.

Shooting a drone down with small arms is a tough call, but it isn't unheard of. The first similar case can be traced all the way back to autumn of 2022, where from originates a video of a suspended bomb being hit with a bullet, causing it to tilt away from its target and spare a russian soldier's life. Several cases of FPV drones being destroyed with automatic fire right before striking the target have also been shot with soldiers' GoPros. Attempts were made to utilize shotguns to fight drones, counting on the birdshot's spread. They, however, proved to be inefficient. Shaheds are fought against used machine guns on the ground. Helicopters and motor planes are also used to shoot down Iranian kamikaze drones through automatic fire.

Several Ukrainian "Baba Yaga" heavy bomber drones were destroyed during night flights in eye for eye ambushes, where shaped charges were placed on roofs of vehicles and bunkers to be triggered by the drone's drops. Sometimes an already destroyed vehicle would be heated up to imitate functioning engines to trick the drone's heat imager. Such technique was even economically efficient with such drones costing up to 80k dollars. Such ambushes were primarily used by Russians in summer of 2024.

Speaking of ambushes, FPVs are being actively utilized for such operations. Waiting by the side of the road, they'd attack forces approaching or passing by. Causing immense losses, they made infantry men extra cautious. And drone operators now actively scan the ground and the sky for possible targets. In several cases, ambushing drones were destroyed with explosive drops. And mid-air pilots would ram into enemy machines. Primary FPVs with very sensitive detonators, but also special interceptor drones would be used on UAVs, Maviks and Lancets. Even a helicopter was destroyed by an FPV squad during the Kursk offensive.

Approaching any explosive device is usually a terrible thing to do, much more so when the device can fly and has a camera. But in several cases the Russian troops were lucky to catch a drone without it detonating at first. In other instances, optic fiber cables would be cut by drones or foot soldiers.

The pace at which drone warfare developes ia unprecedented. The will to live and to save the comrades drives servicemen to try unthinkable tactics. The information used for this article was gathered from open sources and analyzed by The Global Eye writer.