A fleet of drones being dubbed as “The Punisher” is heeding a big blow to Russian invaders in Ukraine. The drones are taking out supply lines up to 50km behind enemy lines. They are being used to target fuel storage, electronic warfare stations, and ammunition supplies.
The engineers who developed the weapons called it “game-changing.” The Daily Star reports, “the small, silent planes have a minute 2.2-meter wingspan – but despite their size, can carry up to three explosives.”
“However, the innovative weaponry does not pose any risk to civilians. They can reach up to 396 meters and can fly for several hours once airborne, and are accompanied by a smaller drone – called a Spectre- that identifies targets.”
The drones are controlled by laptops from the ground and have reportedly completed roughly 60 “successful” missions since the invasion began. The Sun reported the drone was developed by UA-Dynamics.
UA-Dynamics is a company that was launched by veterans who fought Russians during the Crimean annexation. Engineer Eugene Bulatsev says the laptop-manned drones are successful due to their “stealth capability.”
“It’s relatively small and light enough to be undetectable to radar and you can’t see or hear it once it’s airborne which makes it a nightmare on the battlefield,” said Bulatsev.
“What’s more, it can drop three bombs at a time or hit three separate targets, then return to base to be reloaded and sent back into battle within minutes.”
He added, “We Ukrainians recognized that we needed a weapon like this having faced so much firepower for so long and have developed and improved it ourselves for six years.”