FPV drones in Ukrainian warfare: Evolving tactics against odds
Commercial FPV drones serve as a substitute for the insufficient number of precision weapons available to Ukrainians, such as anti-tank guided missiles. Unfortunately, drone losses are reportedly up to a few thousand daily, making multi-use solutions a priority. Here, we present one such case.
FPV drones are effective weapons if the Russian forces in the area do not have electronic warfare systems deployed or if the Ukrainian drones are resistant to their interference, which has happened before.
Unfortunately, each successful or unsuccessful attack using such a drone is a one-time event. In recent weeks, Russia and Ukraine have been complaining increasingly that China is significantly hindering the purchase of parts for their production. This makes the efficient use of drones increasingly important.
The ideal scenario would be to create a drone with an anti-tank grenade launcher that could return to the pilot or another specified location after firing to prepare for the next attack. Below are tests with an FPV drone equipped with an RPG-22 anti-tank grenade launcher.
FPV drone with RPG-22 grenade launcher - potentially effective utilisation of old weapons
Mounting the RPG-22 grenade launcher on the FPV drone was possible because these single-use grenade launchers weigh 3 kg, slightly more than the popular PG-7VL grenades that weigh 3 kg before removing some parts.
It is worth noting that the RPG-22 grenade launchers, developed in the 1980s in the USSR, with a calibre of 72.5 mm, are capable of penetrating up to 40 cm of armour and are suitable for targets up to 200 metres away. It is an outdated and dangerous weapon because, unlike newer variants of grenade launchers like the AT4 or RGW60, it creates about a 20-metre death zone behind the shooter during firing.
For this reason, it is better to use this type of grenade launcher on FPV drones. Similar to handheld anti-tank grenades from World War II, they can prove to be effective weapons again under favourable circumstances. However, aiming remains a problem and is much more complicated than ramming a flight into a designated target.
This is already challenging for pilots or artificial intelligence algorithms, not to mention considering the precision of the launched grenade. However, it is quite possible that, over time, the concept will reach a sufficient level of utility.
