A separate category of ammunition for UAVs was created in Ukraine
Ukraine officially created special ammunition for UAVs and categorized them separately. Oleksii Reznikov, Minister of Defense of Ukraine, announced this on his social media page. "In 15 months, the Ministry of Defense has already adopted for operation more than 30 models of UAVs of various types - reconnaissance, strike, kamikaze drones, and loitering munitions.
Ammunition for UAVs was officially set up as a separate category," Reznikov said. Ukrainian drones currently use regular ammunition adapted for dropping from reconnaissance UAVs/a suspension for an FPV drone, along with DIY products of dubious quality.
VOG-17 grenade modified for dropping from a drone. Photo from open sources
Such ammunition does not always perform well due to inappropriate use, and their number is limited due to a lack of mass production.
At the same time, they are in great demand at the front due to the active use of drones as strike means. In April, Militarnyi reported that volunteers from the "Stalevi Shershni" (Steel Hornets - ed.) project developed a shrapnel munition to be dropped from FPV drones. The engineering team produces "kamikaze drones," dropping tools for quadcopters, and other equipment.
The new munition reportedly has a mechanical nose pin. The case diameter is 63 mm, and the weight in a fully assembled form is 800 grams. Preformed fragments in the form of steel balls are located inside the ammunition.
It is known that at that time, the military started to conduct tests of the discharge of the developed munition at the test site.
Ukrainian shrapnel ammunition for dropping from FPV drones. April 2023. Ukraine.
Photo credits: "Steel Hornets"
Some time ago, the Russian industry also started the small-scale production of drone ammunition. The gravity bombs were developed on the basis of VOG-25 40mm HE-Frag grenades for hand grenade launchers. The weight of the original ammunition is 250 grams, of which 48 grams are explosives.
It is reported that the Russian military uses this ammunition with the Orlan-10 reconnaissance drone.
Russian bomblets for UAVs developed on the basis of the VOG-25 grenade. Photo from open sources
Strike UAVs
The message of the Minister of Defense also refers to the official admission to the operation of ten models of an FPV-drone of Ukrainian development. The Commission at the Department of Military and Technical Policy of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine completed the necessary procedures, and the order of the Head of the Department is to follow.
"This is the result of joint work, for which I want to thank my colleague Mykhailo Fedorov, the "Army of Drones" project, the manufacturer, and all the specialists involved in the process.
This FPV-drone, like other models, is assembled in Ukraine but mainly from foreign components.
The next level is to produce the main components in Ukraine and ensure diversification to guarantee the independence and sustainability of the army's supply under any circumstances," Reznikov shared.