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- The Ukrainian military uses Punisher stealth drones that can fly long distances without being detected.
- The game-changing drones are remote-controlled and can carry 3kg of explosives.
- As the battle for the skies over Ukraine continues, experts have been surprised by Russia’s lack of an air force.
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According to The Times of London, the Ukrainian military is using “game-changing” drones that can carry 3kg of explosives and hit targets up to 30 miles behind enemy lines.
Evgeny Bulatsev, an engineer at Ukrainian designer UA-Dynamics, told the publication that since the start of the Russian invasion, the “game-changing” Punisher drones have completed up to 60 “successful” missions.
“This is the cheapest and easiest way to strike from a long distance without risking the lives of civilians,” Bulatsev told the newspaper.
The electric drones have a wingspan of 7.5 feet and can fly for hours at 1,300 feet for hours, and they only need target coordinates so they can carry out their mission automatically, Bulatsev said.
A smaller reconnaissance drone called the Specter flies nearby to identify targets before the Punisher strikes.
After fighting broke out in eastern Ukraine in 2014, a group of veterans founded drone company UA-Dynamics, according to Haaretz.
“Three-quarters of the company’s employees are veterans with experience in special operations in the depths of enemy territory,” Maxim Subbotin, a marketer and unofficial representative of UA-Dynamics, told the newspaper.
Bulatsev said the main targets were stationary, including fuel and ammunition depots, electronic and counter-electronic warfare stations, and air defense systems.
According to Bulatsev, drones are used by different units of the Ukrainian army, but the number and locations where Punisher drones are deployed are classified.
Earlier, Bulatsev told The Sun that Punisher stealth drones “have been wreaking havoc behind the lines of pro-Russian positions in Donbas for many years because the enemy has no idea what hit them.”
He told the publication that the drone is relatively small and light and undetectable by radar.
“What’s more, it can drop three bombs at once, or hit three separate targets, and then return to base to reload and be sent into battle within minutes,” Bulatsev told The Sun.
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told Sky News that Ukraine had partially halted Russia’s advance by executing a “very clever plan”.
“We have seen footage that we cannot verify, but we have seen footage of Ukrainians using UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) to attack convoys of fuel trucks, to harass logistics lines, we have seen blown up lines and everything that you and I think about when it comes to resistance,” Wallace said.
Along with the Punisher drones, the Ukrainian military also operates around 20 highly regarded Bayraktar TB2 drones from Turkey.
Video released by the Ukrainian military last week shows at least one TB2 drone strike tearing apart a convoy of Russian tanks and armored vehicles.
Drones are deployed as the battle in the skies over Ukraine continues after the Russian military incursion.
Earlier this week, at a behind-the-scenes press briefing, a senior U.S. Defense Department official described the airspace as “contentious” and “very dynamic” despite Russia’s claims that it has gained control.
While Russia was expected to quickly destroy Ukraine’s air defense capabilities, in recent days Ukraine has claimed to have shot down Russian fighter jets, helicopters and even transport planes.
Experts were surprised that Russia did not fully deploy its air force as expected.