Forbes: Ukrainian Long-Range Drones Switch To New ‘Fat’ Targets

The occupiers are being targeted where they are most vulnerable.

Ukrainian A-22 unmanned bomber aircraft, which were previously designed to carry out deep strikes on targets hundreds of kilometers from the Russian border, have now reoriented themselves to new “fat” targets and are dropping bombs on Russian troops closer to the front line.

According to Forbes columnist David Ax, a Russian soldier recorded a video of a Ukrainian A-22 raid on a Russian position, presumably in the Bryansk region of Russia. Ax notes that the Russian armed forces usually do not place infantry around the targets that A-22s strike - factories, headquarters in the rear, and oil facilities, so it is possible that the recent raid took place closer to the front line.

“The A-22 — newly modified to drop a bomb and return to base, rather than simply smashing into a target kamikaze-style — is the obvious choice for closer strikes. While Ukraine’s single-use, first-person-view quadcopter drones and reusable, grenade-dropping octocopters might fly 5 to 10 miles from the front lines on a typical mission, the A-22 can fly much farther before striking,” Axe notes.

He explains that this could allow it to hit Russian regiments, divisions, and field armies where they are most vulnerable: at their rest areas, motor pools, and supply depots, potentially tens of miles from the line of contact and well beyond the range of small drones.

Of course, Ukraine’s manned fighters and bombers are the best choice for such raids. But the Ukrainian Air Force has a limited number of fighters and must be careful not to lose too many too quickly.

“So it makes sense for the Ukrainians to send $90,000 A-22 drones on missions that would otherwise require multimillion-dollar, virtually irreplaceable manned aircraft. And Kyiv’s Aeroprakt can always make more A-22s,” the analyst concludes.

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