As the third year of conflict between Ukraine and Russia approaches, Donald Trump takes office in fewer months, and U.S. aid could be significantly reduced, kyiv must redouble its ingenuity.
As winter approaches, the fighting between Ukraine and Russia continues. Volodymyr Zelensky's country is even suffering large-scale attacks, particularly on its energy infrastructure, thus depriving hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians of electricity.
For now, the armed forces with the yellow and blue flag are facing Vladimir Putin's men, with weapons provided by kyiv's allies, namely fighter planes (F-16, Mirage, etc.), but also ammunition and weapons. With the re-election of Donald Trump as President of the United States, American aid could drop significantly.
“They will be much more effective”
To face this problem, kyiv has embarked on a real arms development race since February 2022, the start date of the war. Between 2023 and 2024, drone production increased tenfold, from 140,000 to 1.4 million, says the magazine Geo.
And Ukraine has never lacked ingenuity, often having D systems, that is to say efficient and inexpensive. Lately, FPV drones equipped with a certain type of warhead have been noticed. The small flying objects, widely used by both sides in the conflict, have attached rocket launcher ammunition, reports Forbes.
The Russians seem to think that tandem warhead rockets such as the 105mm PG-32 are more useful as FPV drone munitions.
Here both the precursor HEAT warhead, intended to clear the way by detonating reactive armor, and the main HEAT warhead are prepared for separate use.
1/2 pic.twitter.com/1uV0NstyPK— Royud83cudde8ud83cudde6 (@GrandpaRoy2) https://twitter.com/GrandpaRoy2/status/1819395250659676416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The M136 AT4, a Swedish anti-tank weapon, comes from the famous M-1 3.5-inch rocket launcher, also known as the “Bazooka”. The Swedish model has been used in several conflicts around the world, notably in Iraq and Afghanistan. But Volodymyr Zelensky's men do not find the weapon effective enough on the battlefield.
“As the TTPs (Training, Tactics and Procedures) of the battlefield have evolved, they have probably realized that there is little chance that infantry will be on foot within a few hundred meters of armored vehicles where AT4s are useful in their normal configuration”indicates Brian Davis, ammunition specialist, to the American magazine.
Ukrainian soldiers then diverted the use of the AT4 warheads. “They are repurposing these advanced shaped charges for FPV delivery, where they will be much more effective”adds the specialist. With such a stratagem, it is therefore possible to guide “accurately” and thus better reach the intended target.
