1. Details matter. Russian Telegram reported a strange type of Ukrainian #drone being shot down. This drone may appear crude but a careful inspection reveals otherwise. Unexpectedly, the build quality is very good in spite of its simple design.
t.me/UAVDEV/4825
2. The wing and tail use an old-school construction technique of frames covered with thin plastic film or fabric. The wing uses two simple tubular spars that look like aluminum for the centre section and fibreglass for the outboard sections.
3. Ribs & stringers are wood. Many of the wood parts have complex shapes and are cut using a laser (note dark edges). Landing gear is simple and light-weight. The fuselage is a simple (probably fibreglass) tube and incorporates a very nice fairing.
4. The wing is straight, flat (no dihedral) and has no taper (constant chord). The tail uses identical parts for the horizontal and vertical stabilizers. This makes assembly very easy. Importantly it also makes it much easier to apply the covering film.
5. A munition is held below the nose with two metal straps, duct tape & zip ties. There is a servo on the rear of the munition (possibly a delayed arming mechanism). The fuselage is larger than the munition suggesting this is not a small drone.
6. The intact aircraft probably had an engine failure. There is too much soot on the airframe and only the lower blade of the propeller is broken. Maybe it ran very rich or had a misfire. Also visible are the bolts connecting the outboard rib to the spars.
7. One of these aircraft also contained Hexomax explosive. This could have been part of the munitions or it could have been for self-destruction. There are several Russian reports that the Ukrainian drones contain self-destruct mechanisms.
t.me/UAVDEV/4654
8. So, what is going on here? This aircraft was carefully designed for low cost & ease of manufacture using easily sourced materials. The engine looks like a DLE170 but the design could easily be adjusted for different engines and munitions.
9. There are no signs of a camera or antenna but there is a pitot tube suggesting long-range autonomous flight. Ukraine promised to strike deep into Russia and has done so with the Beaver (Бобер). But the Beaver is complex & expensive.
kyivpost.com/post/20129
10. If Ukraine’s goal is multiple medium-range strikes, then the simple drone shown here makes a lot of sense. Ukraine could make large numbers of these quickly. Range is probably a few hundred km that, e.g., puts all of Crimea in range.
11. Keep watch for more reports of these strange Ukrainian drones. The details suggest there may be an abundance of them.
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