[ad_1]

FPV drone These are the most important weapons in the arsenal of the defenders of Ukraine. Sadly, one reason for this is Ukraine’s lack of artillery ammunition due to military aid from its Western allies. Kamikaze drones are diving towards individual Russian soldiers and, more significantly, armored machinery, including main battle tanks. However, some of the most important targets of Ukrainian drones are different.

Ukrainian FPV drones typically target Russian armor. Equipment Or soldiers? Image credit: Ivan Shatokhin by Wikimedia Commons

Ukraine’s defenders are constantly battling against Russia’s all-seeing eyes — surveillance and spying systems that are deployed as soon as Russians set foot on territory. These are small things – radio surveillance devices listening to the work of Ukrainian troops, long-range visual surveillance systems looking for any movement of Ukrainian forces and similar devices. This kind of technology needs to be destroyed, but it’s not that easy to find.

These monitoring systems are usually quite small. It’s just a camera on a stick or some array of antennas. Also, the Russians install them on tall buildings or communication towers where they can be hard to find. On the other hand, since these devices need to be high up to be seen further, Ukrainian guards usually check the roofs and windows of tall buildings and various other high places that have a good vantage point.

And what do they look for? Well, devices like Murom-P. This surveillance system has a thermal imager and a camera with a powerful zoom lens. If installed high enough, it can see people from 10 kilometers away with its regular camera. At night it can see people from 4 km away thanks to its IR camera, but vehicles are visible up to 8 km away because they have a bright IR signature.

The Murom-P can operate autonomously and is designed to detect enemy advances from a distance so the Russians can attack quickly. The system can also detect sensitive moments in Ukrainian forces’ defensive positions. For example, it could see when Ukrainian troops are moving around or when supplies are being delivered.

And this is just one example. The Russians have a wide range of surveillance tools available and use them incredibly widely. Destruction of these systems has always been a top priority for Ukrainian security forces, and FPV drones are the way to do it.

Drones can fly behind enemy lines and reach the desired altitude. They can also thread through broken windows and lattice frames of communication towers to reach these targets.

The Ukrainian battle against Russian long-range surveillance systems is not as widely reported, because it is not as visual. There are no big explosions in victories here and armor losses don’t shake. But this is the job that Ukraine’s defenders have to do, and they are doing it effectively.

written by Povelas M.

Sources: Mil.in.ua, Noel Reports Twitter



[ad_2]