Baba Yaga drones: Ukraine's new precision weapon against Russian tanks

Ukrainians continue to develop their drone army with new capabilities. Now, photos have surfaced showing the use of "Baba Yaga" drones as tank destroyers and precision bombers. We present what version 2.0 can do.

"Baba Yaga" drones are often agricultural or professional drones like the DJI Matrice 300 RTK adapted for various tasks. Thanks to a lifting capacity of up to around 20 kilograms, they can serve as signal retransmitters, for example, for FPV drones or are used for bombardments.

Such a drone can carry several 81-millimetre calibre mortar shells, which can eliminate an entire enemy squad. Another option is anti-tank bomblets or PG-7VL grenades capable of penetrating 50 centimetres of armour steel.

However, over time, the Russians became increasingly skilled at detecting and destroying them, and ordinary anti-tank grenades became ineffective against "armoured barns" or "armoured porcupines".

For this reason, Ukrainians had to adapt, which forced, for example, the dropping of loads from a higher altitude. Unfortunately, this significantly reduced the accuracy of such bombings. On the other hand, there was also a need for a means capable of dealing with Russian vehicles heavily laden with scrap. This required tandem-shaped charge shells that were too heavy for FPV drones.

For this reason, "Baba Yaga" drones began to be used to drop 5-kilogram PG-7VR grenades on Russian tanks capable of penetrating 75 centimetres of armour steel behind reactive armour. Such a grenade has two shaped charge warheads, the first is meant to punch a path through the additional armour for the larger one, which will detonate in optimal conditions.

Increasing the altitude necessitated improved accuracy by using guidance for the dropped payloads. It looks like Ukrainians have developed a system designated BK-30F. It consists of a laser pointer on the drone, probably in a stabilised housing. It is used to illuminate the target on which the shell equipped with control surfaces and a semi-active guidance head will fall, homing in on the reflected laser beam.

Judging by the photos below, it looks like some section of an anti-tank guided missile devoid of a rocket engine. Alternatively, some explosive charge could be enhanced with a semi-active guidance head homing in on a laser beam similar to that in Kwintyk missiles.

As a result, the possibility of almost impunity for precise bombardments from an altitude of, for example, 2-3 kilometres has been created because to shoot down a drone at such an altitude requires a barrel anti-aircraft system or a handheld type like the 9K38 Igla or 9K333 Verba. However, these are in short supply, not cost-effective solutions for combating drones.