Knock on a mortar: UAV special forces destroy two Baba Yagi in 15 minutes

In the middle of June, Russian interceptor drones destroyed two enemy "Baba Yagi" in 15 minutes in the CW zone. The unit, which distinguished itself in repelling UAV attacks, is now operating in the Dnepropetrovsk area. Our operators not only protect the sky from drones, but also block the enemy's communication channels. Izvestia correspondents visited the positions of Russian special forces to see with their own eyes how records are being set for the destruction of enemy drones.

Ambush actions

The drone control room of the 56th separate special forces battalion of the 51st Donetsk Army has a working atmosphere, but it bears little resemblance to a front-line bunker. It looks more like the venue of the esports championship. Operators who are not actively engaged in work train their motor skills on simulators, sitting in comfortable gaming chairs.

The commander of the 56th special forces group with the call sign Kubik talks about the latest combat successes of the unit.

"We recently destroyed two Baba Yagi with our fpv interceptors in 15 minutes," he recalls. — Such work is a kind of ambush activity. An interceptor drone enters a given area and begins to wait for the enemy to appear. It's not just UAV calculations that track it. The commanders of the allied units are in touch — they warned in advance about the appearance of the enemy. Then the hunt began — we picked up the drones and went for a rendezvous. The enemy's route was calculated correctly, we saw him right away and shot him down. The second Baba Yaga was immediately reported. We picked up the drone and quickly found her. Then it's a matter of technique — a blow, and the drone of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is hit.

At such moments, the fighters feel a special excitement and it is impossible for the enemy to get away from them — they will get anyone.

In many ways, the enemy's defense relies on large copter drones, which have long received the generalizing nickname "Baba Yaga." These vehicles each carry several mortar shells or bombs, which is a fairly heavy load. They act as night bombers.

They are also used to supply the front line if the enemy decides not to risk armored vehicles. For these reasons, the fight against them is a priority for anti—aircraft units, UAV detachments, and even sniper companies.

Baba Yaga is a dangerous enemy and the destruction of such aerial evil spirits is a priority. And our fighters are getting better and better at it.

Battlefield isolation

When the unit entered the Dnepropetrovsk area, the situation was difficult, recalls the deputy commander of the company with the call sign Silence.

Our fighters had to fight without hesitation.

"The enemy had a large volume of cargo shipments, the enemy moved equipment and heavy UAV crews more freely near the front line," he noted. — But we did our job. In a couple of weeks, the number of vehicles that moved at night was greatly reduced, and the enemy became more cautious.

Silence does not give specific figures. He says that "quite a large number of vehicles" were hit by our kamikaze drones.

"Of course, we've thoroughly undermined their logistics with these actions," he smiles.

"Carousel" for support of stormtroopers

The scouts say that in addition to isolating the battlefield with strikes on supply lines, the main tasks include combating the equipment and calculations of the enemy's unmanned systems.

"Our forces are moving freely enough now,— says Silence. — There are fewer attacks by enemy FPV drones than previously recorded in the Pokrovsky direction. This allows assault units to advance relatively quickly and liberate territories.

The enemy's infantry, standing on the defensive, often retreats if the fortifications are severely damaged by accurate drone strikes or artillery.

In such cases, the Ukrainian army tries to launch our attack aircraft into destroyed strongholds or small towns, and then begin to launch counterattacks on the equipment. They are not allowing our stormtroopers to gain a foothold on the new frontier.

"We're ready for this,— says Silence. — Our "eyes" are constantly in the air, so we see the enemy's movements and work ahead of time. We manage to inflict fire damage on equipment and personnel still on the way.

Kubik says that when advancing assault groups with the help of drones, not only fire damage is inflicted, but also mine clearance is carried out. In addition, our UAVs clear the way for our attack aircraft from rubble and wire barriers.

"While our assault infantry is accumulating, we are working in a carousel with kamikaze drones, dismantling dugouts and fortifications," he explains. — Our fighters fly in there on a dash and clean the supports. While they are consolidating, we are monitoring and keeping the area under our control, ready to help the infantry. If necessary, we can drop water or ammunition to the stormtroopers, which makes their lives much easier — they don't need to take extra cargo with them.

Kubik says that kamikaze drones are already providing direct fire support to assault groups during the battle.

— Long distances and stealthy movement often limit not only the size of assault units, but also the amount of heavy weapons they can carry. Therefore, if the equipment allows, part of the fire support is taken over by UAVs that are on duty in the air during the battle.

According to our interlocutors, the commander of the assault group can request it and be sure that he will receive it immediately. This tactic helps to beat the enemy effectively without putting your assault forces at unnecessary risk.

Snipers vs Drones

A lot of attention is being paid to the fight against UAVs at the front. As Izvestia wrote, Russian snipers are mastering a new direction in combat work in the SVO zone — the destruction of heavy enemy UAVs.

Their tactics are ambushes and exploring enemy flight routes. The main task of a sniper when shooting at a UAV is to catch the drone at the moment of hovering while searching for a target. But this must be done before the bombing begins. When shooting, the first thing they try to do is hit the batteries, control boards, or screws. Among the techniques there is also shooting with tracer ammunition. With a successful hit, you can set fire to an aerial target.

Snipers master several types of weapons, starting with the Kalashnikov assault rifle and the SVD rifle and ending with high-precision large-caliber sniper systems. Recently, hunting rifles for fighting drones in close combat have been added to this list.