The ancient and terrifying myth of the winged dragon has found its embodiment. Its first appearance dates back to September 2, in a video filmed in the Zaporizhia region in southeastern Ukraine. A glowing jet from an invisible point in the sky falls on the left edge of a hedge of trees. Still invisible, the source of the flame flies at low speed over the row of trees, grazes the canopy and continues to spit out what ends up looking like lava. The trees do not catch fire despite this hellish rain. On the other hand, a trail of fire remains on the ground after this mysterious weapon flies over. Towards the center of the row of trees, on the ground, a violent explosion threw burning debris several dozen meters away. This is probably a Russian ammunition depot.
The scene was filmed by a drone and posted on the Ukrainian Telegram channel “No Chance”. This first The appearance of the “dragon drone” online is not a test, but a real combat mission. The short text accompanying the video analyzes the “Russkoff burning under vegetation. The drone dragon works well. Mission of the FPV unit “Rubpak” of the 108thmy separate brigade of the territorial defense forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine ».
Ukrainian intelligence group CyberBoroshno pinpointed the location of the attack at 23 kilometers east of the town of Orikhiv in the Zaporizhia region. The hedge of trees is located in an area under Russian control, 3 kilometers behind the front line. The report suggests that the range of the drone is likely to be more than 5 kilometers, as drone pilots, who are priority targets for their adversaries, rarely operate near the front line.
Simple DIY
Military analysts and commentators agree that the incendiary substance projected by the drone was thermite. It is a chemical mixture of metallic aluminium and another metal oxide that produces heat of up to 2,200°C. Its military use dates back to World War II and it is widely available in the arsenals of countries in the former communist bloc.
A video obtained by The world It shows how, with a relatively simple DIY, the thermite munition is fixed under the structure of the quadcopter drone with a firing mechanism. This suggests that the Russian adversary should be able to copy this weapon very quickly.
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