Ukrainian Drones Employed for Remote Mining Operations Behind Enemy Lines
The defense forces undermine the logistics and tactical operations of the invaders, remotely mining the roads and lines of combat contact. The Ukrainian servicemen use drones for remote mining of tracks in the rear of the invaders, according to Militarnyi. They mostly use TM-62 10-kilogram anti-tank mines, or Ukrainian analogs.
The mines are installed by multi-rotor drones that are able to hang above the required place and have a large payload.
Ukrainian Vampire multi-rotor drone
Drones of this size are easy to be spotted: to perform their tasks, they often hang in one place and create a lot of noise. This makes them vulnerable to small arms fire, so tactics involve their use exceptionally in the dark. Depending on the fuze, anti-tank mines that are dropped from drones can also be used as high-power bombs to destroy fortifications.
To prevent the mine from immediately exploding when falling and being properly suspended, it is equipped with an electric "smart" detonator. It turns on after a certain time and runs on a battery for up to 14 days. On the other hand, to prevent detonation, which can occur due to the proximity of large metal objects or movement of the mine, the detonator is equipped with a gyroscope, accelerometer, and magnetometer.
An electric detonator for an anti-tank mine found by the Russians.
Photo: Serhii Flesh
An example of remote mining tactics can be seen in a recent video by the soldiers of the "Pomsta" Brigade of the State Border Guard Service, where a BTR-82 armored personnel carrier was destroyed by mining. "For example, enemy sappers checked the road at 19:00, in a few hours we had already dropped a mine there, and in an hour Russian armored vehicles were blown up on it," says Serhii Flash, a radio technology specialist. For this operation, the operators of the UAV brigade of border guards used the Vampire multicopter with thermal imaging optics carrying a TM-62 anti-tank mine.
Night "bombers" inflict serious losses on Russians in technology and manpower. To protect against them, the invaders display acoustic control posts along the front line to detect the time, location of large drones and further notify their forces of the threat.
However, Flash notes, the Ukrainian military knows about this and monitors them for further destruction, in particular, with the help of other drones.