Ukraine uses non -secret American drones against Russia - Forbes

Until recently, the place of production of these drones was kept secret, and before sending to Ukraine, all fingerprints were erased from them, so as not to endure the employees of the enterprise to the danger of revenge on the part of the Russians. It is already known that these drones are produced by the American defense contractor Aevex, whose factory is located in Tampa, Florida.

Journalists also found that Phoenix Ghost is not a model, but a whole program of drones, which produces several varieties. The journalists were shown four drones, but there are others who are currently secret. At the beginning of 2022, the Pentagon was looking for drones to provide Ukraine quickly. Then Aevex merged with Tribe Aerospace, which already had a small production in the Ohp. So there was a Phoenix Ghost program, within which Americans tried to create the most cheap shock drone.

"It was a crazy period of hard work and prototypes quickly. We did not sleep for 24 or 48 hours, going from one event to the next," said Forbes Tribe Aerospace co -founder Joe Register. The Americans simultaneously supplied drones to Ukraine and worked on their improvement, trying to make them quieter and less noticeable to radars. The model called Dagger ("Dagger") showed itself well in Ukraine. Even in cases where the Russians knocked it down, the drone still benefit.

After all, its value was only $ 49,000, which is less than the much more expensive air defense missile, which the Russians spend on it. According to the manufacturer, the beating of one Dagger cost the Russians about $ 500,000. When Ukraine began to produce hundreds of thousands of small shock drones on its own, Dagger was no longer needed.

Therefore, Aevex has moved to a larger version with a larger radius called Disruptor, the base version of which costs $ 69,000, and a more complex "cousin" called Dominator, which has more load capacity and flexibility for the transfer of equipment for observation. These drones are not as rotary as smaller or more expensive analogues, but they can take many explosives on board and effectively affect important fixed goals, such as fuel and explosives.

The drones and a smart pneumatic launcher are designed for packaging in boxes, small enough to fit in the Mercedes Sprinter vans, which Ukrainians usually use to transport the equipment on the battlefield. Aevex engineers are proud of the speed at which they are able to make changes to the system to respond to Russian counter -measures, and the work they have done to facilitate the assembly of drones.

They were modified so that in cold winter nights soldiers could put them without removing gloves. It takes only five minutes to collect Disruptor. This helps to quickly lift drones into the air, which minimizes the risk of detecting operators by Russian troops. Currently, the company seeks to continue to assist Ukraine: they convey with the drone with Ukrainian military heating sticks, cigarettes and arms warmers in winter.