So-called kamikaze drones are used by both sides in the war in Ukraine. You’ve certainly seen the videos of Russian losses inflicted by Ukrainian FPV drones. These tiny little unmanned aerial vehicles are incredibly maneuverable and can haunt a soldier until his brutal destruction. But the defenders of Ukraine are also suffering from these small drones buzzing over their heads. The good thing is that simple cheap nylon nets can stop their attacks.
A Russian FPV drone stuck in a net over Ukrainian trenches. (Screenshot)
Kamikaze drones come in all shapes and sizes. The cheapest of them all are small quadcopters, assembled from cheap readily available Chinese parts and controlled via FPV goggles. These are very rudimentary drones, constructed like racing drones, but carrying small charges.
Some large FPV drones can carry mortar bombs or RPG projectiles, while smaller ones carry small amounts of TNT, wrapped around in some duct tape. They are usually detonated with a couple of rigid wires that touch upon impact.
These tiny drones need to be destroyed while still airborne. Using missiles against them, including MANPADS, is just ineffective. These drones are too small and have virtually no IR signature for a missile to latch onto.
The best bet is shooting them from the sky using simple automatic rifles. Electronic anti-drone weapons can jam these drones too, sometimes making them fall out of the sky, but these kinds of tools require a lot of energy and are not commonplace everywhere. In the case of established positions simple soft nets are key.
Ukrainian soldiers filmed an unexpected guest in their entrenched positions – the net covering the trenches stopped the Russian suicide drone. Although it looks like an innocent little thing, it is a deadly weapon that is very difficult to defend against:
⚡️The anti-drone net stopped the 🇷🇺Russian kamikaze FPV drone that was trying to attack the position of the 🇺🇦Ukrainian military pic.twitter.com/EuHmeERRlZ
— 🇺🇦Ukrainian Front (@front_ukrainian) January 21, 2024
As you can see in the video, this FPV drone has a fairly small charge. It is designed to attack infantry that do not have armour protection. The small size and weight of such drones help them penetrate deep into trenches or even into basements and covered dugouts. However, they are stopped by relatively simple and cheap nylon nets.
Anti-drone nets are also being hung over some roads and passages. They either catch the drones and prevent them from detonating or force them to detonate further away from the target. However, nets are only effective in established positions. And they have to be very wide and well-made, because a good FPV drone pilot can maneuver the deadly weapon through a random hole or the entrance.
Written by Povilas M.
Sources: front_ukrainian Twitter