Ukrainian armed forces are using a drone behind the Russian line of contact that is attacking Vladimir Putin's troops with mines.
Donetsk – It feels like they are everywhere in the Ukraine war: drones. And not just there. While the US armed forces are testing large logistics drones in Bavaria, Russian leader Vladimir Putin is apparently using unmanned aerial vehicles to spy on Bundeswehr locations in Germany where Ukrainian soldiers are being trained on Western weapons systems.
Using drones: Ukrainians lay anti-tank mines deep behind Russian lines
On the Ukrainian battlefield, for example, huge Russian jammers are identified and ultimately switched off with the help of drones. But that's not all: The Ukrainians have now modified a type of drone in such a way that it is able to place very heavy mines on supposedly secured transport routes behind Russian lines.
Accordingly, Ukrainian specialists are using drones to lay old Soviet PTM-3 anti-tank mines on roads, paths and railways deep behind the contact line.
Against Russian army: Ukrainians mine supply routes for Putin's troops
And deliberately on supply routes where the Russians assume that they have actually been cleared of explosive devices. Reported about this feint Forbes. In its report, the American news magazine links to a video on the social network Reddit. This is intended to show how a presumably Russian soldier approaches such a tank mine behind the Donbass front in the Bakhmut area – and is killed when it suddenly explodes.
“Drones are now used not only for target identification and engagement, for aerial reconnaissance and for dropping grenades, but also for mining,” explains the independent analysis project Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT) loud Forbes: “Ammunition dropped on the ground does not explode on impact but instead becomes a landmine.”
| PTM-3 | |
| Type: | remotely deployable anti-tank mine |
| Combat weight: | 4.9 kilograms |
| Charge: | 1.85 kilograms of TG-40 explosives |
| Length Width: | 33 centimeters / 8.4 centimeters |
Mysterious drone from Ukraine: It can transport quite heavy anti-tank mines
The PTM-3 is actually manufactured in Russia, but Ukraine also apparently still has an arsenal left over from the end of its Soviet era (1991). How big this is is probably just as top secret as the type of drone with which the PTM-3 is dropped over the target points.
Since the anti-tank mine weighs almost five kilograms and is 33 centimeters long, it must be a larger quadrocopter (rectangular with usually four propellers). According to estimates, only the (mixed) explosive weighs around 1.85 kilograms. For comparison: Smaller quadcopters can usually carry grenades weighing up to one kilogram. Photos of the mysterious drone have not yet circulated on social networks, and that too CIT did not distribute any recordings.
Anti-tank mine PTM-3: Ukrainians modify detonator called “Johnnie”
A significant further development in the mines are the so-called “Johnnies”, tailor-made detonators. These are loud CIT equipped with an accelerometer and a magnetometer that activate the mine when hit or moved. Like the Russian soldier at Bakhmut described at the beginning.
“Ukrainian forces can now mine frequently used roads or tracks or recently cleared areas that Russian forces consider safe,” it said CIT quoted further. At the same time, this prevents soldiers from having to crawl up to enemy lines under the cover of darkness on dangerous missions at night and bury the mines by hand. The losses of Ukraine, which lost a cult fighter pilot with the “Blue Helmet” at the beginning of January, are already high. (pm)
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