A fairly large thing.
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As to the possibility of drones from another, Western source, Ukraine is not known to have received anything that looks remotely similar to the vehicle that we see. However, there have also been suggestions that the drone seen in the video might be some kind of commercially available product, perhaps the Skyeye 5000mm available on the Chinese Alibaba website, that was then rigged up for a ‘kamikaze’ mission by Ukrainian technicians. In particular, the shape of the tailfins on the Skyeye drone seems to tally with those of the drone in the video. The drones are selling for between $5,000 and $10,000 on the site.
One listing on Alibaba for a Skyeye 5000mm provides the following specifications:
Technical Data
Wing Span -— 5000mm
Length -— 3670mm
Length of the fuselage: 2000mm
Width of the fuselage: 375mm
Wing area -— 251.6dm2
Material -— Fiber-Glass
Max. Flying Weight -— 90kg
Twin gas Engine -— 170cc -200cc
Payload -— About 30-45 kg (with full fuel tank)
Cruising Speed -— 55km/hour.
Max Speed 150 km/hour
Empty Weight -— 30kg
Features
*Huge Payload Capability up to 20kg (with full fuel tank)
*With parachute cabin for landing *Large Air Intake & Cooling Duct for engine *Super large size cabin for FPV system
*Heavy Duty Landing gear with Steerable Nose wheel
*Detachable main wings and tail wings, easy to install and un-install, convenient for transport.
*With “H”-tail and”V” tail for option.
Equipments recommended(no included in the parcel):
Engine: 120*170CC (DLE170)
Prop:32 x10 high power wooden propeller
Servo PY-20AL x11
FUTABA3001 servo for accelerator x1
The 5000 VTOL comes with a Kevlar fuel tank. With full fuel of 27 liters, the estimated maximum flight time is over 7 hours. Its maximum take-off weight is up to 85kg and and the maximum payload is about 15 to 20kg.
This scenario actually seems much more likely. After all, while Ukraine is not previously known to have conducted this type of work, the kind of technologies involved would be well within reach of its industrial base, which already has plenty of experience with smaller drones. This would also be much cheaper and easier than acquiring and employing in-production precision-guided weapons and would also provide a significant degree of deniability.
I guess the Russians just found out that the Chinese are more interested in money than ideology.
I am wondering just how much weight could be shed from this gadget ... it certainly does not need landing gear for a “kamikaze” bombing mission. There might be other parts and pieces that could be removed in addition in order to provide a greater payload ability.
Michael Westen approves.
