Video footage shared on social media this week shows the moment that a Ukrainian brigade took out a Russian Tornado-G multiple launch rocket system using drone-dropped munitions.
The video is the latest in a long string of videos shared by the Ukrainian military showing how Russian military hardware can be destroyed using grenades dropped from commercially available unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
The video, shared by the Ukrainian military and reposted to Twitter but Ukraine Weapons Tracker, was recorded somewhere near Vuhledar in the Donetsk region of Ukraine.
In the clip, the Russian multiple-launch rocket system can be seen parked at the side of a hedgerow.
The vehicle is surrounded by black crater holes. The drone approaches the vehicle and quickly drops munitions on the vehicle, setting the vehicle on fire.
Moments later, two rockets launch from the Tornado-G system, apparently triggered by the explosion.
“In #Donetsk Oblast, the Ukrainian 72nd Mechanised Brigade destroyed a loaded Russian 2B17(M) 122mm MRL of the modern Tornado-G system with two drone-dropped munitions, igniting the rockets on board,” Ukraine Weapons Tracker writes.
As can be seen in the video, drone operators miss the vehicle initially, but strike the rear section of its chassis on a second attempt.
The kind of ammunition used in the strike was not specified in social media posts.
More On the Tornado MLRS
The Tornado-G is a fully automatic multiple-launch rocket system, and an upgraded version of Russia’s standard BM-21 122MM launcher. Each Tornado system is manned by just three men, compared to the six men it took to man the original BM-21.
The Tornado-G has 40 launch tubes, split into four rows, with each tube containing one 122mm rocket.
The system has been in service with the Russian military since 2014 and began export in June of 2018.
In January 2023, images shared on Russian social media network VK showed the Tornado-G rocket system in action. The videos show the rocket launchers firing GPS-guided rockets at Ukrainian targets. The missiles are capable of reaching targets as far away as 40km.
Photographs of the weapons in use in Ukraine came ahead of news that Russian forces received a brand new missile for the Tornado-G, which was designed to be more accurate than previous generations while also offering a greater firing range.
#Ukraine: In #Donetsk Oblast, the Ukrainian 72nd Mechanised Brigade destroyed a loaded Russian 2B17(M) 122mm MRL of the modern Tornado-G system with two drone-dropped munitions, igniting the rockets on board. pic.twitter.com/RjUJ8OssNK
— ???????? Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) May 12, 2023
Jack Buckby is 19FortyFive’s Breaking News Editor. He 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.
