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Aussie cardboard drones credited with Ukraine’s destruction of Russian jet fighters
dronedj.com ^ | Aug 30 2023 | Bruce Crumley

Posted on 09/01/2023 2:50:24 PM PDT by dennisw

In a development that can’t be independently confirmed – yet nevertheless offers an ephemeral blast of schadenfreude for those so inclined – close observers of Ukraine’s military actions against Russia and its assets have said four highly valued fighter jets that were destroyed or seriously damaged at a base in Western Russia late Saturday were the victims of Australian drones made of cardboard.

The aerial attack took place when drones struck a MiG-29 and four Su-30 fighter jets – plus missile launchers and an air defense system – at a base in Kursk, about 100 km inside Russia’s border. Per usual following such operations – and despite the exceedingly high-value targets struck – Ukraine remained mum about responsibility.

That was eventually – and specifically – assigned by well-informed observers to Australian Corvo drones, whose SYPAQ maker began sending them to Ukraine in March as flat-pack systems assembled from cardboard parts, rubber bands, and lightweight onboard tech.

DroneDJ was among the first to report on Melbourne-based SYPAQ providing the cardboard drones to Ukraine to supplement the thousands of cutting-edge DJI, Draganfly, Quantum-Systems, Teal, and Teledyne FLIR UAVs Ukraine receives to battle Russian invaders.

Those Ikea-esque Aussie craft elicited a few dismissive chortles from readers at the time, but now they’re being credited with inflicting one of the worst material losses Moscow has suffered during its increasingly bleak efforts to conquer its neighbor.

Read more: Oz’s SYPAQ sends Ukraine high-performance cardboard drones

Officials from Ukraine’s Security Service on Sunday first confirmed to the Kyiv Post their agency had been behind the strike. Just hours later, a prominent Russian blogger on the war followed up with a post stating “(f)or the first time, Ukrainians used Australian UAVs from SYPAQ to attack the airfield.”

A Corvo drone, he noted almost ruefully, is “made almost entirely of wax-soaked paper and rubber bands, which together makes it almost invisible to radar” – thus allowing a team of the Aussie piñatas to deliver a stupefying smack-down to Russian jets recently seen elbowing US UAVs around over the Black Sea.

Read: Russia claims hidden ‘sleeper’ drones thwart Ukraine defenses

Crediting Kyiv for the resounding blow to Moscow’s fighter planes – with a critical assist going to flying cardboard from Oz – was echoed on Tuesday by Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko. The diplomat’s account on the social media formerly named Twitter quoted him repeating SYPAQ drones staged Saturday’s strike.

The rich irony of Russia’s most formidable and expensive military aerial tech being blasted by something made from matter kids use to slide down grassy hills on is lost on nobody. But it also holds important lessons for the future.

Additional information contained in the Russian blogger’s post offers – if accurate – another example of how moves like Ukraine “going cheap” with $710,000 worth of cardboard SYPAQ drones will continue to further confound the huge, highly sophisticated military systems Russia, the US, China, and other major powers have been developing to face off against one another for decades.


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1 posted on 09/01/2023 2:50:24 PM PDT by dennisw
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To: dennisw
Ukraine drone cardboard

 

 


2 posted on 09/01/2023 2:52:18 PM PDT by dennisw (Never attribute to incompetence& stupidity, that which is adequately explained by malice)
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To: dennisw

Would look perfect with Snoopy riding on top.


3 posted on 09/01/2023 2:53:47 PM PDT by Yardstick
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To: Yardstick
Would look perfect with Snoopy riding on top.

Yes it would. ;O)


4 posted on 09/01/2023 2:59:03 PM PDT by Bounced2X (Boomer - I survived childhood with no bike helmet.)
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To: dennisw

I’m m curious as to how that cardboard drone could cause significant damage. What are the munitions involved? Fire starter? Pin point targeting?


5 posted on 09/01/2023 3:04:09 PM PDT by 728b (Never cry over something that can not cry over you.)
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To: dennisw

The Ukrainians are inventive and highly motivated and like to adapt foreign weapons and technology to suit their own needs and local battlefield conditions. In a number of cases, they have developed new capabilities that NATO and US advisers did not think possible.


6 posted on 09/01/2023 3:04:12 PM PDT by Rockingham
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To: dennisw

Sorry, but I’m not buying any of the propoganda from either the Maloross or the Moskals.


7 posted on 09/01/2023 3:04:30 PM PDT by mgstarr ("Some of us drink because we're not poets." Arthur (1981))
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To: 728b

Probably by ingestion into a jet engine... Just a guess.


8 posted on 09/01/2023 3:13:52 PM PDT by sonova (Ask me about hate speech!)
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To: Rockingham

If they’re so advanced, why is it all we ever see is their leader with his hand out?


9 posted on 09/01/2023 3:14:04 PM PDT by FLNittany (Autotune is jealous of Karen Carpenter)
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To: 728b

Couple of kilograms HE.


10 posted on 09/01/2023 3:27:17 PM PDT by steve86 (Numquam accusatus, numquam ad curiam ibit, numquam ad carcerem™)
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To: dennisw

Drones have proven to be extremely effective in this war. How many drones can you build for the price of one fighter and its pilot? The Pentagon should be paying close attention.

My other observation is that armor hasn’t yet proven itself effective in this war. Armored vehicles have just been big targets. Ground forces may need a change in tactics.


11 posted on 09/01/2023 3:28:21 PM PDT by popdonnelly (All the enormous crimes in history have been committed by governments.)
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To: dennisw
In a development that can’t be independently confirmed – yet nevertheless

Until it is independently confirmed it is just propaganda - just like what our government spews everyday and the government stenographers report, err, regurgitates everyday.

12 posted on 09/01/2023 3:30:13 PM PDT by ConservativeInPA (The Delay Trump’s trial, delay. Elect Trump President. Trump pardons himself. )
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To: popdonnelly

You know who else isn’t effective? NATO isn’t effective. Nor is Biden. Throw in General Jack Keane. Same for Nuland, Fox News, ABC, CBS and NBC for that matter. Only very Low IQ idiot would believe their nonsense


13 posted on 09/01/2023 3:37:06 PM PDT by JonPreston ( ✌ ☮️ )
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To: dennisw
The airframe is nothing spectacular, but the control systems are. That thing is at best only marginally stable, so the controls have to manage that, in addition to navigating. But once you have the chips and the software licked, the thing is infinitely scaleable. The only battlefield limit I can see is how many you can launch before the enemy's artillery finds you. As a weapon for infiltrators it's golden, as the Ukrainians seem to be demonstrating. Not enough warhead to be effective against serious armor, but no thin-skinned vehicle will be safe. Especially parked aircraft.
14 posted on 09/01/2023 4:29:54 PM PDT by Chad C. Mulligan
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To: popdonnelly

“Drones have proven to be extremely effective in this war. How many drones can you build for the price of one fighter and its pilot? The Pentagon should be paying close attention.

My other observation is that armor hasn’t yet proven itself effective in this war. Armored vehicles have just been big targets. Ground forces may need a change in tactics.”

It is feeling like a return to WW1 in a number of ways.


15 posted on 09/01/2023 4:30:43 PM PDT by MNDude
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To: dennisw

Russia is using the latest military weapons and Ukraine is shooting back with paper airplanes.


16 posted on 09/01/2023 4:59:48 PM PDT by EastTexasTraveler
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To: mgstarr

“Sorry, but I’m not buying any of the propoganda from either the Maloross or the Moskals.”

Seems like propaganda BS indeed. Suppose could be real.


17 posted on 09/01/2023 5:05:55 PM PDT by MNDude
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To: FLNittany

In case you had not noticed, wars are expensive.


18 posted on 09/01/2023 5:43:07 PM PDT by Rockingham
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To: Rockingham
"In case you had not noticed, wars are expensive."

Did someone declare war on us?

19 posted on 09/01/2023 5:48:43 PM PDT by FLNittany (Autotune is jealous of Karen Carpenter)
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To: 728b

My understanding is they can carry 2.2 to 5kg of explosives that is plenty if it hits the jets, plus have seen video of Ukrainian drone exploding over a target and raining down shrapnel like an air Burt’s artillery round

With that you can easily disable a plane if not outright destroy it


20 posted on 09/01/2023 5:54:33 PM PDT by blitz128
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