Video footage shared on Telegram and Twitter recently showed how Ukrainian soldiers have begun dropping as many as ten grenades at once from rotary-blade UAVs, and a new clip shared online this week reveals how it works.
Last Week’s “Carpet Bombing” Video
Video footage shared on social media last week showed Ukrainian troops using a drone to drop more than 10 grenades at once. It’s not the first time footage like this has emerged, with several video clips – recording from the drones dropping the munitions – showing how grenades and other explosives are dropped from commercial and military-grade UAVs on Russian positions.
While Ukraine is certainly not short of high-tech weapons, which are constantly arriving in the country from the United States and other NATO allies, troops have repeatedly turned to these improvised weapons to provide a quick and easy way to strike Russian positions with a fair amount of precision.
The footage shared on Twitter and Telegram last Friday showed how useful commercial drones can be. The video, recorded by the drone, shows a large number of grenades falling from the sky and striking a Russian position below.
How They Do It
Several video clips have also emerged on social media showing how the Ukrainian troops can drop such a large number of explosives from drones remotely and at once.
One clip, shared this week by Ukraine Weapons Tracker, shows how the Ukrainian military adapted a large rotary-blade UAV to carry a large quantity of RKG-3 pattern grenades. The short video shows the quadcopter resting on bricks, raising it enough to hold the attached grenades beneath it. The drone then takes off from the makeshift launch pad and can be seen rising into the air.
Another video clip shared online in late July shows a DJI Matrice 300, a commercial drone typically used for recording video, modified to include a munition rack that holds 8 modified VOG-17 grenades.
The short video clip shows how the grenades are mounted in a circular pattern in makeshift holders around the bottom of the grenade. A soldier holds the modified unit, revealing how switches release the grenades one by one.
#Ukraine: You may remember the “drone carpet bombing” video from a few days ago. This is how it’s done by the Ukrainian Army and associated volunteer units- a large drone adapted to carry a quantity of modified RKG-3 pattern grenades.https://t.co/fY2D6sDPmM pic.twitter.com/qCulLvHghK
— ?? Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) August 7, 2022
Video then shows the drone taking off from a dirt road, rising into the air and presumably heading to seek a Russian target.
Ukrainian DJI Matrice 300 with a munition rack holding 8 modified VOG-17 grenades pic.twitter.com/Y5c8GjuaMG
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) July 26, 2022
It is unclear exactly how Ukrainian troops created these improvised switches and mounts for the grenades, although the white plastic could possibly indicate that they are manufactured using a 3D printer.
Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.
