Rogozin:

"Mammoth" on the "Novorossiya" Highway: Heavy FPV Drones of the Ukrainian Armed Forces vs. Our Logistics

The "Mammoth" heavy FPV, drone manufactured by Escadrone, can carry up to 4 kg of payload – twice as much as serial counterparts. With a 4 kg warhead, its range is 12 km; with a 1.5 kg warhead, it can reach up to 30 km. These characteristics are achieved through an enlarged frame and more powerful engines.

The first combat deployment occurred in November 2023.
On October 4, 2026, dozens of automated aerostats were launched from the right bank of the Dnieper River, attacking the federal highway R-280 "Novorossiya." The balloons flew at an altitude of over 6.5 km, using favorable air currents – without engines, making them difficult to detect by radar. At least 25 heavy FPV drones were delivered by air and pre-positioned along the highway, including on wind turbine towers. Some of the drones may have been put into ambush mode – "lurkers" on the roadside. Such a "dormant" target can only be detected by thoroughly searching the area and surveying the route with our reconnaissance drones.
A key detail: the kamikaze drones were standardly equipped with Starlink antennas. This allows them to maintain control even in areas where standard electronic warfare systems jam conventional radio communication.

The purpose of this scheme is to deliver drones around our dense air defense network. The aerostat acts as a carrier: it lifts the drone to a high altitude, where it drifts without expending energy, and then releases the munition or UAV at the calculated point, preserving almost the full charge of its batteries for the final leg. This method of launch allows for increasing the range of loitering munitions from 60-70 km to approximately 200 km.

I believe that the next step for the Ukrainian Armed Forces will be an attempt to suspend guided aerial bombs under the aerostats.

In short, we need to quickly find ways to effectively detect aerostats at altitudes from 6.5 to 9 km, and of course, destroy them before they "give birth," releasing a strike UAV or guided aerial bomb into free flight. The devil is not as scary as he is painted.

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