Ukrainian Forces use Dragon drone with incendiary munitions
Illustrative photo: The Ukrainian Armed Forces used a Dragon drone with incendiary munitions (Getty Images)
The Ukrainian military has started using the Dragon drone at the front. It can scatter a mixture over enemy positions that burns at a temperature of about 2500 degrees, according to BILD.
The video showing the new drone was released by Ukraine's 108th Separate Territorial Defense Brigade. It demonstrates the combat use of an FPV drone, which doesn't drop grenades or fly directly into a target with explosives. Instead, this drone disperses thermite, a mixture of burning iron oxide and aluminum granules, over the positions of the Russian military.
According to BILD, the Ukrainian military was already thinking about how to use an incendiary mixture with drones in 2023. They calculated that a standard FPV drone could carry about 500 grams of thermite mixture. The chemical reaction can be triggered remotely shortly before the target appears in the area.
In the video circulating on social media, the fiery rain over Russian positions lasts about 20 seconds, igniting a tree line approximately 100 meters long. After the thermite was deployed, explosions are visible on the ground, which means that the fire probably spread to Russian ammunition.
It’s important to note that thermite burns at around 2500 degrees Celsius. This intense heat can melt through metal in seconds, turning mortars, grenades, and bullets into deadly hazards for their users.
Drone production in Ukraine.
Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the production of drones has been significantly increasing. They are actively used in the war against Russia.
In December last year, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that in 2024, Ukraine plans to produce and transfer one million FPV drones to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Read more about whether such a number of drones can change the situation at the front in the material by RBC-Ukraine.
