A volunteer group is helping Ukraine's armed forces by developing effective searchlights to fend off Russian kamikaze drones.
Kiev – Russia repeatedly attacks Ukraine with drones in the run-up to Christmas. Only on the night of St. Nicholas Day (December 6th) were 41 of 48 drones fended off, the Ukrainian Air Force said.
Ukraine War: Volunteer group “Hurkit” helps the Kiev army
In the weeks before the onset of winter, President Volodymyr Zelensky stoically warned against Russian air strikes on the country's critical infrastructure during the cold season. He wasn't wrong. Moscow particularly uses kamikaze drones of Iranian design, which are now also produced in the Russian Federation itself – the so-called shaded drones.
Helping the Ukrainian armed forces to repel these attacks is an urban non-governmental organization (NGO) called “Hurkit”. The volunteer group independently designed searchlights during the Ukrainian war and handed them over to the army.
That army, for example, shoots low-flying drones with machine guns from the backs of pickup trucks. Ultra-modern and large anti-aircraft systems such as the German Iris-T, of which Ukraine now has three, are far too expensive for use against Russian combat drones, which are loud Editorial Network Germany (RND) only cost a few thousand euros each.
Russian war of aggression: Moscow attacks critical infrastructure in Ukraine
For comparison: According to the Stockholm Peace Institute SIPRI A single Iris-T guided missile from the Lake Constance defense company Diehl Defense reportedly costs around 560,000 euros. And: The entire Iris-T system with radar and mobile launch pad on a truck trailer will cost around 137 million euros, according to André Frank from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy IFW in an interview with the Deutsche Welle (DW) estimated. Loud List of military support services According to the traffic light federal government, Germany also delivered 49 Gepard anti-aircraft gun tanks to Ukraine. According to reports from Ukrainian soldiers, these are considered very effective in the fight against drones.
Of course, they cannot be located everywhere in the huge country with an area of 603,700 square kilometers – Germany (for comparison) has an area of 357,588 square kilometers. MG volleys from pick-ups are more practical and cheaper, but the cheaper ammunition should not be fired haphazardly into the sky at dusk and at night when the whirring of small propellers can be heard somewhere. The NGO “Hurkit”who comes from Kiev, is therefore making great efforts to develop the most effective and far-reaching searchlights possible for the army, financed by donations.
According to its website, the volunteer group handed over several such spotlights to the 11th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment, “which protects military and civilian objects, including objects of critical energy infrastructure.” Namely in the north and east. The capital Kiev with around 2.8 million inhabitants is also located in the north of Ukraine. On the night of November 24th to 25th, Kremlin autocrat Vladimir Putin's invasion troops carried out their largest drone attack to date on the metropolis on the Dnipro River – the Ukrainian Air Force said it was able to shoot down 74 of 75 shaded drones.
Ukraine war: Russia now relies on black-painted drones at night
How The time writes, Russia used black-painted drones for the first time, which are even harder to see at night. The weekly spoke to Valentin Nytskovolosov, one of the developers of “Hurkit”. “If the Russians come with new tactics, we have to react immediately,” he said, testing a spotlight aimed at a black car 900 meters away during the conversation. The spotlight therefore had the handle of a drill and the housing was made of bendable steel. “Hurkit” asks engineers to help the organization voluntarily and free of charge.
Against Russian shaded drones: Ukrainian soldiers complain about lack of spotlights
According to the report, soldiers often complain that the Defense Department does not provide spotlights. Regular troops are therefore increasingly asking NGOs for support. The time quotes “Hurtik” founder Vladislav Samoilenko: “We understood that the government takes care of things like weapons and ammunition and that it relies on volunteers like us to get headlights or cars.”
Demand is likely to remain high while the Ukrainians are losing Leopard 2 tanks on the front and the Inspector General of the German Bundeswehr, Carsten Breuer, is warning more vehemently than ever about Putin's regime in Moscow. Loud RND A contract between the Kremlin and Iran is expected to provide for the production of around 6,000 kamikaze drones by 2025 – and thus pose immense challenges for Ukrainian air defense. (pm)
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