1. Lyutyy (Fierce) is what the Russians call a #drone that has been burning up their #oil refineries and storage depots. Ukraine has been striking deep into Russia seemingly at will. What is this drone that is doing so much damage?
2. The only official photo of this drone is a desktop model complete with a cat & flowers. However, it turns put this model is quite accurate. It has a 3-blade pusher propeller with a twin-boom V-tail. Cooling intakes on the sides suggest a boxer engine.
3. Videos of attacks provide additional details. Most of the design features seen in the model are present. In addition, there appears to be winglets and a long pitot tube. There may be a pod under the nose (perhaps a camera).
4. A video of a crash provides a more details. Two dark bumps on top of the engine cowling are the air filters confirming a 2 cylinder engine. The propeller hub sits high and there appears to be a drive pully. Unidentified bits are on top of fuselage.
5. A different crash provides more insight (as found - no footprints). The tail broke off and is in front of the nose. There is no sign of the left wing. There is a good view of a winglet. A coupler & (possibly) longer boom differs from the other crash.
6. During the crash, a spark plug boot punched through the cowl. As one might expect, the colour & construction of the wing is very similar to the Beaver. Note how the propeller sits above a drive pulley.
7. The engine looks a lot like a Hirth F23. This is a 50 HP 2 cylinder with a belt speed reducer. The speed reducer also positions the propeller high in the aircraft. Note that there are various options for this engine including fuel injection.
8. There is not much of the nose remaining. Note the complexity of the engine cowling. It carefully curves around the exhaust and includes cooling air intakes. There are also bumps on top, possibly clearance for the fuel system or carb heat.
9. This drone had written on it, “warm greetings to the Lipetsk Metallurgical Plant”. This is a very large steel plant that was also struck by drones on February 24.
10. The Lyutyy has some similarities to the Beaver but is much larger and more advanced. For example, Lyutyy has a complex engine cowl while the Beaver has no cowl. There is attention to small details, like fairings where the tail booms attach.
11. A video of Lyutyy in flight suggests it is very stable. It has also been extremely successful at attacking targets deep in Russia. The drone in this video hit an oil refinery.
12. The airframe looks great. Ukraine has used these with skill. Attacks on refineries looked perfect with smooth turns before a terminal dive. These attacks were extremely precise.
13. Lyutyy is big enough to carry a useful payload 1000 km but small enough to be made in large quantities. With these, Ukraine can seriously dent Russia’s exports as well hurt them militarily.
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