Posted on 10/17/2014 12:13:39 PM PDT by Olog-hai
“Luna” drones promised by Germany to monitor the Russian-Ukrainian border may not be sent after all—they can’t handle the bitter cold expected in the Ukrainian winter.
“It’s a technical problem of the Luna system that it can't be controlled reliably at temperatures below −19°C [−2°F],” German MP Gernot Erler told public broadcaster Deutsche Rundfunk.
Winter temperatures in the region would often plunge far lower at the drones’ operational heights of 3,000 meters and above, Bild reported, citing a military source.
German drones were supposed to join unmanned planes provided by France and Austria in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) mission to keep watch for Russian troops and weapons crossing into eastern Ukraine. …
(Excerpt) Read more at thelocal.de ...
One would have thought that the Germans would have remembered that they needed cold weather gear from mid-October on while on the Eastern Front.
Ask the public for spare furs. That’s what they did back in the ‘40s!
I bet the temperatures encountered are far worse than those quoted. The only way around it would be a fully shrouded insulated/heated unit, increasing battery weight and energy consumption.
My first thought exactly.
My second thought was, no, that's not possible, as either General Winter or the Russians killed just about all of those with first-hand experience.
It's almost beyond imagination that the Germans averaged a full regiment KIA every day they fought on the Eastern front.
“Just like old times, comrade.”
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