Dozens of officers missing: Punisher drone destroys headquarters and warehouse behind invader lines (video)

Ukraine has developed the Punisher drone, which can fly 45 kilometers behind the Russian army and destroy equipment, ammunition depots and even headquarters. The creator of the drone, Maxim Subbotin, talked about the details of a successful operation in an interview with ITC media.

In one of the directions, when planning a counter-offensive, the Ukrainian Defense Forces had a problem – it was necessary to destroy the artillery depot of a part of the Russian Armed Forces. However, Ukrainian artillery could not operate at full strength in this area because Russian Orlan reconnaissance drones, which usually target Russian artillery, were constantly circling above them. For the same reason, infantry could not participate in the operation.

First, air defense forces destroyed 12 Orlans in 9 days, and the Punisher drone discovered the warehouse of an enemy artillery division and blew it up along with the nearby headquarters of the Russian Armed Forces. As a result, the invaders lost not only ammunition but also several dozen officers. Ukrainian artillery was able to fire freely at the enemy on this section of the front.

According to the developer, there are currently approximately 250 Punisher-type drones in service with the Ukrainian Defense Forces. And the team of drone creators receives about four applications a day from departments, but technical and material resources do not allow them to create more than 30 such drones in a month.

Note that the Punisher is a reusable aircraft-type attack aircraft carrying a container weighing 1.5 or 2.5 kg – this is a high-explosive, fragmentation, improvised aircraft with 600 g of plasticized explosives and 2300 metal balls serving as destructive elements It is an explosive device. It is essentially a “plastic box” in which the plasticized explosives and fuses needed to complete a specific mission are placed.

“The Punisher is not designed to drive infantry into front-line trenches or destroy tanks. If the operator has a mission to render a tank company unfightable, for example, the operator will not operate on vehicles. He will not be able to operate the Reconnaissance unit, a barracks for tank crews, or a tank refueling point or fuel it will find storage space and destroy these objects,” explained Maxim Subbotin, explaining the principle of operation of the created drone.

In addition, the drone can destroy electronic warfare systems that disturb many units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, from aerial reconnaissance to artillery. So, recently the 58th Brigade destroyed one of the vehicles of the latest Russian electronic warfare equipment complex. It was deployed in a combat stance and was actively suppressing our reconnaissance drones.

The advantages of the unmanned aerial vehicle include the silent operation of all mechanisms that enable the drone to operate even on windless nights. Secondly, the Punisher is equipped with an upgrade kit that makes him resistant to data corruption due to electronic warfare. By the way, during the entire existence of the project, only 10 aircraft were lost. Of these, 8 were shot down by electronic warfare systems and two by air defense systems.

“We use very high-quality telemetry and secure GPS; the entire architecture in the drone is copied. It cannot be called invulnerable, but it can certainly be called resistant to electronic warfare,” said Maxim Subbotin.

As with any aircraft, one of its vulnerabilities is weather. The Punisher can’t fly in the rain. However, it resists wind quite well. Thus, during the test, the drone managed to carry the container to the target three times, despite the wind reaching a speed of 23 meters per second.

Technical specifications of the Punisher drone

• drone type – aircraft;
• cruising speed – 80 km/h;
• maximum speed – 198 km/h;
• operating distance – up to 45 km;
• carrying capacity weight – 1.5 or 2.5 kg;
• working altitude – 400 m.

The cost of the basic complex is about 50 thousand dollars. The drone itself consists of three sets of batteries, a catapult for launch, a ground station, an antenna, a ballistic complex, a carrying case and a repair kit. There is also a modernized version with an electronic warfare resistant kit – it costs 110 thousand dollars.

Punisher drone features:

• destruction of command centers;
• liquidation of air defense units;
• destruction of electronic warfare systems;
• destruction of ammunition and fuel depots;
• destruction of command communications vehicles and barracks with the enemy;
• intelligence agency.

Let us recall that in early November the Punisher drone destroyed a Russian electronic warfare system worth $ 20 million, followed by the destruction of a drone from a separate sniper company of the 58th brigade in cooperation with the combined air reconnaissance group of the 129th separate regional brigade. defense forces eliminated the Russian electronic warfare system “Borisoglebsk-2”.

And at the beginning of September it became known that the Armed Forces of Ukraine will receive 50 new Punisher attack aircraft, which will cover 45 thousand km of the front. Punisher is considered one of the most effective drones of the Ukrainian army, because since 2016 the invaders have not been able to hit a single unit.