🧵1. In the #UkraineRussia war, volunteers assemble #drones for military use. Most components are imported from China but some are made locally. Russian volunteers (kb70ru Конструкторское дизайн бюро) designed a drone that uses a frame made from plywood. vk.com/kb70ru
2. A computer-controlled router is used to cut the drone frames out of 9mm thick plywood. t.me/kb70ru/366
3. A laser cutter is used to cut parts out thinner plywood. The laser cutter is more accurate but is limited to cutting thinner materials.
4. An advantage of this design is it's easy to make different size frames for different applications (the inch sizes refer to the propeller diameter):
5" Training (there is a large training program)
6" Reconnaissance
7" Kamikaze (attack)
9" Bomber t.me/kb70talks/8924
5. Some interesting observations can be made. This project appears to be largely the initiative of one person (Alexey). The workshop used for development is not very big or fancy.
6. However, the automated router and laser cutter can produce a lot of drone frames in a few days.
7. Keep in mind that there is a lot more to a drone than the frame. The frame needs to be assembled and 4 motors, 4 propellers, ELRS receiver, flight controller stack, camera, video transmitter, antennas & battery need to be installed.
8. Since all the drone parts are hobby-grade & made in China it is easy to determine the cost effectiveness of this home-made frame. At best, it reduces the cost of a drone by about 10 to 15%.
9.This cost estimate was verified in a post, “Six copters were paid for by concerned citizens. Production of one drone costs about 40,000 rubles and a month of waiting for the delivery of components.” vk.com/kb70ru?w=wall-…
10. The frames are given to other groups to assemble. Photos confirm that many of these frames were used to make drones. But how many frames were made and how many resulted in a drone?
11. Apparently, these volunteers were not keeping track but instead estimated 500 frames from the number of nylon standoffs used (6 per drone). But no one knows how many of these frames were made into drones. t.me/kb70talks/9099
12. Keep in mind that to turn 500 frames into drones would require about US$200,000 worth of components. In a poor and corrupt country like Russia, it’s not clear how this would work out. Many frames were shipped and subsequently disappeared.
13. Some Russian sources claim that huge numbers of drones are being made each day. Because the volunteers are not keeping track of their own production, these (partially) official numbers cannot be accurate. t.me/vatfor/8784
14. In spite of their efforts, this project was not approved for Russian government funding. “Ahaha plywood frames did not pass the selection of the high state commission))))” This rejection resulted in bitterness and may have dampened their enthusiasm. t.me/kb70talks/7344
15. In summary, this group of Russian volunteers worked very hard, made drones and had successes but still did not obtain government funding. Without serious money, it’s not clear how big their impact will be in a quickly evolving war.
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1. It is beautiful but is this reconnaissance drone too good to use in a war? The various reconnaissance drones flown in Ukraine are well made and usually expensive. But are they too expensive?
2. At the start of the war, Ukraine obtain several Penguin-C military drones made in Latvia by UAV Factory (now called, Edge Autonomy).
3. This aircraft is fairly small but has a number of fancy design elements. The wing and tail are removed for transport. The red triangles show where the fasteners go.
1. Here is something a little unusual. It is a Zlin Z137T agricultural aircraft (crop duster) equipped with two R-73 air-to-air missiles for shooting down drones. There is no obvious gun so this is likely only for large drones like the Geran-2 (Shahed 136).
2. For reference, here is a Z137T in its tradition role of applying chemicals to a crop. A maximum cruise speed of 252 km/h will be a constraint as a drone hunter.
3. The R-73 missile uses infrared homing and has a maximum range of about 30 km. It is not clear how many of these are in inventory.
1. What would have been unthinkable a few years ago is now routine. Several Ukrainian drones successfully attacked a russian drone factory located in Dubna, only 115 km from the kremlin. This is a smart move by Ukraine, and there may be more to this attack than at first seems.
2. Importantly, one video showed several drones attacking, one after the other. Oddly, there was remarkably little air defence heard as each drone approached over a lake. What happened to russia’s air defence?
3. This shows the factory with the lake on the left (west) side. This building is very large. The camera operator (for #1) was quite close and was almost hit by shrapnel.
1. Developing a new weapon is hard so why not just copy another company’s design? Fibre optic drones are a hot product and part 4 of this series looked at a company (Skywalker) who developed their own. Other companies have rushed to make similar weapons.
2. Here are two fibre optics kits made by the Chinese company, Skywalker. Opening the boxes is the likely owner of PGI Technology, which operates in China but is effectively russian. Initially, this photo was confusing. Was Skywalker collaborating with PGI Technology? Nope.
3. PGI bought these two Skywalker kits with the goal of copying the technology and selling their own version. The following photos are very unusual since they show the design process. Here is the Skywalker canister with a large drone frame.
1. Need to ship weapons? The previous thread in this series showed a small russian company, PGI Technology, making electronic warfare systems in China. But how do they ship these systems & other equipment to russia?
2. PGI Technology showed this photo of equipment being prepared to ship from China to russia. The packing tape has a company name & phone number on it. Note the Wallace restaurant and #24 bus across the street.
3.PGI also showed a video of this heater but it is the background that is interesting. Visible is the company name (3188 Kapro) and a phone number. There are also signs on the steps written in russian.
1. This is a look at a small russian company that operates in China and exports military equipment to russia. One interesting aspect is this company manufactures some equipment, including electronic warfare kit, and places its logo on the products.
2. It currently calls itself “PGI Technology” but there are also references to “Dongguan PGI Technology”. Its location is murky but a now-defunct website gave an address in Tangxia Town in Dongguan.
3. This is a very small company likely run by the single person shown here. He is easily identified by a distinctive tattoo on his left arm. Oddly, his face is obscured in some videos but not in others. Here he is testing a drone jammer.