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A Ukrainian brigade mentioned it used an FPV drone to ship an escape bike to a trapped soldier.
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Its chief of employees mentioned it took three tries with a Heavy Shot drone to make a profitable drop.
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It is one of many first recorded situations of an FPV drone getting used for such logistics in a warzone.
A Ukrainian brigade mentioned it used first-person-view drones to ship e-bikes to a surrounded soldier, marking a uncommon occasion the place such units had been used to airlift a automobile in battle.
In a video printed on Wednesday, the “Rubizh” 4th Brigade of Ukraine’s Nationwide Guard mentioned it dropped the roughly 88-pound e-bikes so the soldier may escape principally Russian-controlled territory.
Whereas the brigade did not say within the video when the operation occurred, it mentioned the soldier had been trapped at a shelter close to Siversk, a city in Donetsk, the place combating remains to be ongoing.
“The enemy was in entrance, behind, and on each flanks. Fully surrounded,” Mykola Hrytsenko, a junior lieutenant serving because the brigade’s chief of employees, mentioned within the video.
The soldier, whom the brigade recognized by the decision signal Tankist, was the one survivor of 4 Ukrainian troopers combating within the space, Hrytsenko mentioned.
“The Siversk route is understood for extremely tough logistics. Virtually none exists there. Guys need to stroll six to seven kilometers on foot to succeed in a place,” he mentioned.
Hrytsenko mentioned his staff crafted an evacuation plan that concerned heavy cargo drones, such because the Baba Yaga or Heavy Shot, carrying a bicycle with an electrical motor to the exhausted soldier’s place.
Such drones are usually utilized in Ukraine as bombers and are designed to ship payloads of about 40 to 50 kilos, although they’ll additionally airlift cargo.
Carrying a virtually 90-pound e-bike, Hrytsenko mentioned, would push the drone to its limits and shorten its vary to roughly 2 kilometers.
It took three makes an attempt, brigade says
Hrytsenko mentioned his staff initially misplaced two drones attempting to ship e-bikes to the soldier. The primary was shot down with the bike, whereas the second crashed as a result of its motors burned out, he added.
However the “Rubizh” brigade printed clips of the third drone carrying the bike by way of a winch system and the soldier showing to obtain the bike. Enterprise Insider couldn’t independently confirm the authenticity of the brigade’s footage.
Hrytsenko mentioned the bike’s elements had been disassembled and delivered to a close-by place on the frontline. Afterward, the automobile was put collectively and flown to the soldier, he added.
“Everybody in HQ was shouting and crying like we might simply launched the primary airplane within the sky,” Hrytsenko mentioned of the second when the bike arrived.
The brigade additionally confirmed surveillance drone footage of a soldier using an e-bike by the battlefield.
Hrytsenko mentioned that whereas the soldier later struck a land mine, he was capable of stroll a number of hundred meters to a close-by pleasant place, the place drone pilots flew in one other e-bike so he may absolutely exit the fight zone.
“The operation price us two misplaced e-bikes, round 100,000, and two misplaced HeavyShot drones, $15,000 every,” Hrytsenko mentioned, probably referring to 100,000 hryvnias, or about $2,340.
The brigade mentioned the soldier evacuated safely and confirmed interview clips of a person it mentioned was Tankist. BI couldn’t independently confirm his id.
Hrytsenko added that the e-bikes had been funded by way of donations from volunteers, a typical prevalence in Ukraine, the place models need to crowdfund for drones and weapons.
“If you happen to see an odd fundraiser for an e-bike, or a unicycle, do not be shocked. Perhaps it’s going to save a life,” he mentioned.
First-person-view, or FPV, drones have been used for a lot of non-combat features through the battle, reminiscent of dropping small gadgets on the battlefield or compelling troopers to give up by way of loudspeaker.
Nonetheless, this marks one of many first instances such a drone has been used to ship a big asset like a automobile throughout ongoing combating. Provided that the scale of the payload could make a drone simpler to identify whereas limiting its vary, it is unclear if this tactic will change into extra commonplace.
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