Don's Weekly, 22 July 2024: Part 5 (Equipment)

by Donald Hill

If Russia determines it cannot restore a vehicle it strips it for parts.

T-54’s on their way to Ukraine. It was manufactured in the Soviet Union from 1946-1981.

A Leopard 1A5 with explosive reaction armor added. The Leopard 1 entered series-production in 1965. This model was upgraded in 1970 and again in 1980.

This is not a turtle, it is a hedgehog. The intent is to detonate a drone before it hits the armored shell.

A thread that lists the barrel life of Russian artillery from Russian sources. Because of a shortage of replacement barrels they are being used to the point of failure in some cases.

A look into a small drone workshop.

In this video, Russians intercepted the video feed of Ukrainian drone operators that were launching drones. Russia then sent drones to attack the Ukrainian launch position. One way to prevent this is to keep the video signal on low power during launch so it is harder to intercept. Here is a couple of videos from the Russian point of view as they intercept drone feeds. They’ve also been able to use these intercepted feeds to warn fellow Russians about drones headed their way.

The Russians show off a wheeled 152 mm gun after it was attacked by a GMLRS. They claim it defeated the missile. There were four hits on one bullet-resistant pane of glass and five on another, neither of which shattered. Camouflage could be masking other holes in the front. No holes could be seen on the gun from a distance. It did seem to have much less damage than many targets, suggesting that the rocket landed some distance away. The damage to the right and right-front windows and not the other windows suggest where the missile landed. The fact that all the tires on both sides were flat indicates the vehicle was subjected to some level of fragmentation damage along its entire length.

The Vampire drone can carry a maximum cargo load of 15 kg. At that weight it can fly 10 km, but with less weight it can fly further.

Ukraine produced very few drones in 2022 and said they produced 120 times that amount in 2023. One of Ukraine’s goals for 2024 was to produce one million drones. In March, it was announced they were making 150,000 drones a month* and could make 2 million drones in 2024 with financial assistance. By the end of March, they said they produced three times as many drones as they did for all of 2023. In May, the US gave Ukraine $2 billion to help produce their own weapons. It’s unknown how much of this was directed to the drone program. By the end of June, they had produced six times the number of drones they produced in 2023, meaning production is steady. 150,000 drones/month would result in 1.8 million drones in 2024.

The Hornet Queen, aka the Queen Drone, is produced by the Wild Hornets at the request of the K2 battalion of the 54th Brigade. It was made with lighter materials but engineered to reduce the vibrations common to many light drones. The electronics, motors and materials are all custom made. The result is that it can carry 9.5 kg to bomb, lay mines, carry supplies, another drone (to extend its range), and repeat (boost) a signal within 25 km of the source, again to extend ranges and possibly avoid jamming. Over 100 are in the field now and instant feedback from the users lead to more changes. This is not a terminal project. They are already developing a new drone with a new frame, new communications equipment and twice the payload as the Queen.

Russia produces a lot of drones with few manufacturers. Ukraine had as many as 150 manufacturers in 2023 and wanted an open market where competition would stimulate innovation. The downside is that each manufacturer has variances in components and the lack of standardization impedes mass production, but Ukraine is committed to retaining innovation and has obviously found a system to boost production. Ukraine says they now produce as many or more drones than Russia does. Still, troops on the front line don’t have as many drones as they could use. This parallels Ukraine’s supply of artillery shells: They have a lot more than they used to, but they don’t have as many as they could use.

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*If these numbers are correct, then Ukraine produced 150,000 in 2023 and less than 2,000 drones in 2022.