Ukrainian drone advancements: New "Baba Yaga" versions devastate tanks

Ukrainians continue to develop their drone army with new capabilities. Now, photos have emerged showing the use of "Baba Yaga" drones as tank destroyers and precision bombers. Here, we present what version 2.0 can do.

"Baba Yaga" drones are often modified agricultural drones or other professional-use drones like the DJI Matrice RTK 300, which are adapted for various tasks. With a payload capacity of up to approximately 44 pounds, they can serve as signal relays for FPV drones or be used for bombings.

These drones can carry several 82 mm mortar shells, which could eliminate an entire enemy unit. Other options include anti-tank bomblets or PG-7VL grenades capable of penetrating 500 mm of armour steel.

However, over time, the Russians have become increasingly skilled at detecting and destroying them, and conventional anti-tank grenades have become ineffective against "armoured barns" or "armoured porcupines."

For this reason, Ukrainians had to adapt, starting to drop payloads from higher altitudes. Unfortunately, this significantly reduced the accuracy of such bombings. On the other hand, a solution was needed to deal with Russian vehicles heavily laden with scrap. This required the use of tandem warhead projectiles too heavy for FPV drones.

Consequently, "Baba Yaga" drones began to be used to drop 10-pound PG-7VR grenades on Russian tanks. These grenades are capable of penetrating 750 mm of armour steel behind reactive armour. This grenade has two warheads. The first clears a path through such additional armour for the larger one, which detonates under optimal conditions.

Similarly, increasing the altitude necessitated improving accuracy by using guidance for the dropped payloads. It looks like Ukrainians have developed a system marked as BK-30F. It includes a laser pointer on the drone, likely in a stabilized housing, used to illuminate the target, onto which a projectile equipped with control surfaces and a semi-active guidance head locks onto the reflected laser beam.

Judging by the photos below, it seems to be some section of an anti-tank-guided missile without the rocket engine. Alternatively, it could be an explosive charge enriched with a semi-active guidance head similar to Kwintyk missiles.

As a result, it has become possible to conduct almost unhindered precision bombing on Russian targets from altitudes such as 1-2 miles. Shooting down a drone at such an altitude requires either a barrel anti-aircraft system or handheld systems like the 9K38 Igla or 9K333 Verba. However, these are in short supply, and combating drones cost-effectively with them is not feasible.