Commercial drones of the DJI brand are transformed into kamikaze devices by the Ukrainian army. Several videos, analyzed by Numerama and open source intelligence experts, testify to these strikes.
The Ukrainian army continues to innovate in the transformation of commercial drones into a weapon of war. On January 20, 2023, the intelligence services indicated that they build a fleet of kamikaze aircraft from FVP models – first-person flight view from a helmet – and call for donations from volunteers.
Videos confirm the use of these modified drones in the field. It would first be “suicide” attacks in urban environments. Concretely, a soldier operates on the outskirts of town to spot enemy forces and launches the device loaded with explosives against detected units or strategic buildings.
Two filmed operations allow us to observe this method. Contributors from Project Fox, an anonymous group for the promotion of intelligence in times of armed conflict, helped us analyze and identify areas of action in detail.
Weapons depots targeted by drones
The “Krela” intelligence unit — wing, in Ukrainian — posted a series of attacks on YouTube. The operation is taking place in the occupied town of Kamianka-Dniprovska, in the Zaporizhia region (southern Ukraine), on the banks of the Dnieper. Anti-armor grenades are attached to “Combo” model drones from the Chinese brand DJI. The first part is a reconnaissance mission where we see Russian soldiers storing boxes – probably ammunition – in different buildings. The drones are then launched at full speed against these same hangars and a device posted in the sky confirms several explosions.
The Dnieper River currently separates the two armies. However, these strikes testify to a Ukrainian strategy of deteriorating Russian troops on this part of the front. The price of a DJI FPV drone with the First Sight headset starts at 800 euros. The cost of the strike can be more interesting than sending a missile, especially if it allows you to pulverize an ammunition depot.
Direct attacks on soldiers
In a video broadcast on Telegram, another DJI-branded “Combo” business model is used in Bakhmout commune, in the east of the country, where the fighting is most intense at the moment.
The machine takes off from the roof of a building, performs a reconnaissance session and then heads towards a Russian trench on the other side. The tip of an explosive, probably a grenade, appears on the screen. The Ukrainian operator then launches the device at full speed against two Russian soldiers. Here the strike seems more opportunistic, its first objective being an analysis of the trench then a neutralization in the event of a military force on the spot. In another suicide drone videowe understand that the Ukrainians are targeting units with anti-tank rockets.
Several models of suicide drones have been in use since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The US military supplied Switchblade models to the Ukrainians, while the Russians equipped themselves with Iranian Shaed-136 drones. The latter have been particularly visible in the attacks against the civilian population and the energy infrastructures of large metropolises.
The diverted commercial models are an essential element in this war and testify to a need for having apparatus of recognition or harassment for the modern units.
Ukraine’s digital minister Mykhailo Fedorov announced last summer that he hoped to amass a “drone army” to aid the armed forces. The donations have bought more than 1,400 devices, according to the government website United24.
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