Sent by Australia, these “unmanned vehicles” came to destroy Russian planes, which can carry five kilos of explosives and are remote-controlled.
A particularly cheap new weapon is turning heads in the war between Ukraine and Russia. It is a disposable, inexpensive cardboard-based drone originally designed to deliver supplies to hard-to-reach areas. However, after finding that drones can also carry up to 5 kilos of explosives, they began to be used by the Ukrainian military as “suicide devices” against Russian infrastructure.
Russian Telegram channels have already commented on the characteristics of these airplane-shaped drones: “The main feature of these drones is their versatility and disposable nature. , as they are almost entirely made of paper impregnated with wax and elastic, which makes them invisible to radar. Remains of these models have already been found on the battlefront.
Ukrainian military intelligence reported last Thursday that four Russian Ilyushin-76 transport planes were destroyed in a drone strike. This attack would have been ordered by kyiv, and was directed against an airfield in the Pskov region, in Russian territory. During the same attack, other parked aircraft were reportedly damaged. According to the Kyiv Post, the drones hit two Pantsir missile launchers and an S-3000 air defense system.
Vasyl Mryoshnychenko, Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia, said the cardboard drones the ocean nation allegedly gave them were used in the attack for the first time. “Australian cardboard drones used in attack on Russian airfield” said the diplomat on Twitter.
Normally, the role of this drone would be to deliver ammunition, food and medicine directly to the front line. In addition to these logistics functions, they have been proven to perform reconnaissance flights by drilling holes in the cardboard and placing a camera there , and throw small explosive devices. Ukraine has been attacking targets on Russian territory for some time now, but always with weapons developed in its own military industry, since Western allies prohibit it from using weapons “offensively”.
The cost of these cardboard drones is $3,500, which is relatively cheap by military standards. In the case of “low cost” drones, they arrived packed in flat packs and tied with rubber bands in Ukraine.
Called “Corvo Precision Payload Delivery System”, these drones were manufactured by Australian company SYPAQ and began arriving in Ukraine in March. at the time, Canberra had announced that it would send at least 100 a month which is part of a $20 million relief package, reports The Australian.
According to SYPAQ, the drone is very quick to assemble , as it has three parts: a lightweight plank frame, a propeller, and an aircraft system into which soldiers can program a target location. Additionally, the drone is capable of carrying up to 6.6 pounds, making it useful for carrying medicine and ammo.
Company director Michael Partridge said that while reconnaissance was not part of the drone’s functions, Ukrainian soldiers simply “drilled a hole” in the drone for a camera to see through.
The plane, also known as the “cardboard plane”, can take off, fly up to 120 kilometers and land, which gives it real autonomy. For an added benefit, due to its cardboard material, it is “transparent to radar, which makes it harder to detect” Oklahoma State University drone researcher Jamey Jacob told Popular Mechanics. In case of rain, so that the vehicle does not fall, the cardboard from which these drones are made is covered with wax.
Source: Latercera
I am David Jack and I have been working in the news industry for over 10 years. As an experienced journalist, I specialize in covering sports news with a focus on golf. My articles have been published by some of the most respected publications in the world including The New York Times and Sports Illustrated.
