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Several social media channels reported that a ZALA Kub drone was shot down in the occupied territory of the Kherson region of Ukraine. This relatively small but annoying and dangerous drone was shot down and photographed by the Russian occupiers. However, apparently, it wasn’t the Ukrainian guards who brought him down.

ZALA Kub drone, shot down by Ukrainian defenders in 2022.ZALA Kub drone, shot down by Ukrainian defenders in 2022.

ZALA Kub drone, shot down by Ukrainian defenders in 2022. Photo credit: via Armyinform.com.ua Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Ukrainian defenders reported that the Russians shot down their own ZALA Kub drone in the occupied territory of Kherson. It was, presumably, flying to attack or spy on the Ukrainians, but Russian air defense intercepted it.

Such mistakes are actually not rare in the war in Ukraine. This is because both sides are using unmanned aerial vehicles to an unprecedented extent. There are spy and attack drones in the air all the time. And the military is getting fooled by them, because it’s very difficult to distinguish friendly drones from enemy ones because these planes are so small.

Usually, identification is very simple – someone on the radio needs to tell the troops that there is a friendly drone above them. If the soldiers are not informed UAV Above their head, they are likely to shoot it down. Kamikaze drones account for a large portion of the current war in Ukraine’s cargo losses, inevitably making soldiers wary of the threat.

This probably explains why the Russians would shoot down their own drones. Especially in an area like the Kherson region, which has seen incredible activity by Ukrainian drones over the past few months since Ukrainian guards managed to track down a bridge near Krinki.

The end of a ZALA Kub is good news. The Zala Kub is usually a kamikaze drone, but sometimes it also performs reconnaissance missions. The wingspan of this drone is just over 1.2 meters, the length of the plane is less than 1 meter. Such a small drone can carry a payload of up to 3 kg and has a range of up to 40 km.

Zala Kub has a maximum speed of about 130 km/h. It lasts up to 30 minutes. It’s not as common or as dangerous as the hated Lancet, but it’s certainly dangerous and forces Ukrainian defenders to waste resources that could otherwise be saved for more valuable targets.

The ZALA Kub is a product of the Russian company ZALA Aero Group. It was founded in 2003 and has produced many different UAVs, including the Lancet series, which was developed from the Kub project. Various ZALA drones are used to attack Ukrainian tanks and troops and carry out reconnaissance missions in Ukraine. And the Russians have a lot of them.

written by Povelas M.

Sources: Tech.wp.pl, Ukrainian Front Twitter



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