Ukraine's defense tactics challenged by Russian drone warfare
In recent weeks, numerous recordings have surfaced showing Russian Vandal drones attacking Ukrainian artillery positioned behind the front lines. The Ukrainians are responding with strikes on the valuable 2A36 Hyacinth-B howitzers, crucial for Russia. We explore why these are significant and detail the attacks.
The widespread availability of inexpensive FPV drones that operate using fiber optics, similar to many anti-tank guided missiles, has almost taken the Ukrainian battlefield back to the state when these devices were first introduced at the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023.
It turns out jammers are ineffective against fiber-optic-controlled drones, and the only defense options are reactive armor, specialized armor, screens that prematurely detonate the drone's warhead, or shooting it down before it reaches the target. One form of protection is deploying nets around targets, but this is not a reliable method.
There will always be an exposed section, as seen in the recording below, where drone pilots from the RUBpAK "Feniks" unit of the "Revenge" brigade of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine neutralized three Russian 2A36 Hyacinth-B howitzers by damaging their barrels.
2A36 Hyacinth-B howitzers - one of the few Soviet systems capable of competing with NATO artillery
Introduced into service in the USSR in the late 1970s, the towed 2A36 Hyacinth-B howitzers are Russian 152 mm systems with the longest barrel length of 49 calibres (almost 8 metres). This translates into a range of about 27 to 31 kilometres for standard ammunition, or up to 40 kilometres for rounds with a rocket booster. This allows for artillery duels, for instance, with the Polish Krabs or the German PzH 2000.
For comparison, much more common systems with shorter barrels like the D-20 or 2S3 Akatsiya have a range of 18 kilometres, or 24 kilometres for the much rarer rocket-assisted shells.
The Russians developed the 2A36 Hyacinth-B howitzers and the self-propelled variant 2S5 Hyacinth-S as counter-battery weapons intended to combat conventional NATO artillery of 155 mm calibre, based on guns with a length of 39 calibres.
Hyacinths replaced M-46 130 mm guns and even today pose a formidable opponent for Ukrainian artillery crews. According to Russian sources, the Hyacinth's rate of fire is up to 6 rounds per minute. It is worth noting that due to insufficient barrel production in Russia, every loss of a quality piece is costly for them.
