Small, Cheap, Deadly – How Ukraine Turns Hobby Drones Into Weapons

In fact, drones like the DJI Matrice 300 are designed as “flying cameras”: they film spectacular panoramas for video productions, are used by fire departments and other blue light organizations to search for missing persons or in industry for inspection tasks.

Hobby drones replenish the Bayraktar TB2 fleet
In Ukraine, they have a different goal: Tinkerers use parts of the 3D printer to turn them into effective weapons that drop grenades and mines or, loaded with explosives, run towards the target.

Converted from labor equipment to weapons of war, the civilian drones are part of a “drone army” funded by donations of money and goods. It serves to complement the Turkish Bayraktar combat drones deployed by Kiev.

“Drone Army” Would Include 1200 Aircraft
In an area near Kiev, Ukrainian soldiers recently demonstrated this flying force to reporters from Radio Free Europe, among others. Yuriy Shchihol explains in the video that they have about 1,000 civilian drones for hobbyists and professionals, including 78 Matrice 300.

In addition, there are about 200 longer-range reconnaissance drones — some of Ukrainian homemade ones, which have been refined since the beginning of the war and now meet “global standards,” some of which are donations from abroad. The drones are controlled by IT-smart soldiers, some with video glasses on their heads.

3D Printer Ejectors
Ukrainian soldiers have published numerous videos on social networks such as Telegram showing deadly conversions. According to “France 24”, they use 3D printers to produce launchers for grenades, mines and other explosives. US military adviser Mark Cancian reveals that such homemade bombers have several advantages.

Commercial drones “are much cheaper than military ones. You can buy a lot of them and think of them as a single use product, use them once or twice and they are gone.” This makes private drones a good choice for less affluent groups. “ISIS also used commercial drones because that was what they could get. And people are very smart and resourceful and turn them into useful weapons.”

Ukraine has been using commercial drones since 2014
The know-how was already there, according to ex-fighter pilot and drone expert Xavier Tytelman: In eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists and Ukraine have been involved in hostilities since 2014, commercial drones have been used for years – for example by the drone troop ” Aerorozvidka”.

Plans were made for ejector devices that can now be produced quickly and in large numbers with 3D printers. The unit also reports on social media that it is now building its own drones with a payload of up to five kilos.

According to Tytelman, commercial drones can make a difference in combat operations. “Drones improve the efficiency of artillery. They can replace soldiers on reconnaissance missions, they are super accurate and they are difficult to detect and destroy. The enemy is always afraid of the threat – even far from the fighting.”

“We are sending drones that anyone can buy”
One of the donors making the Kiev drone army possible is Raivo Olev from Estonia. Shortly after the outbreak of the war, the worker started a fundraising campaign with the aim of supplying bulletproof vests to Ukraine. His organization Vesten voor Ukraine now also collects money for drones. Olev tells about a volunteer battalion that has been fighting in eastern Ukraine since 2014. “They have vests, helmets, cars and machines from us and send us pictures and videos. Drones were one of the things they asked about. We send them drones that anyone can buy.”

Commercial drones drop mortar shells
In addition to small, sometimes only 250 grams drones for reconnaissance, the somewhat larger video drones such as the Matrice 300 are especially interesting for Ukraine. “Industrial drones can be easily modified to drop 82mm mortar rounds. You can carry up to six kilos, have a range of five to seven kilometers, drop the grenade and come back.”

Its destructive power should not be underestimated: during the detonation, splinters fly through the air within a radius of 60 meters. Even armored vehicles can be severely damaged or destroyed. According to Olev, the donations would be used wisely. “With a few thousand euros they can destroy Russian machines worth hundreds of thousands of euros.”

How the drones are being used can be seen in social media posts:

Russians are now getting supplies from Iran
In the war for Ukraine, however, it is not only the defenders who arm themselves with drones. Putin’s army has also received new unmanned aerial vehicles – from Iran. According to the US Institute for the Study of War (ISW), which publishes daily situation reports from Ukraine online, Russian forces are said to have received 46 Iranian-made combat drones and are already using them in Ukraine.

The information was received from an adviser to the Ukrainian president. The drones would be of the Shahed 129 type with a wingspan of 16 meters and a flight time of up to 24 hours. The model was put into service in 2013 and is reminiscent of the American Predator drone in structure. It can carry up to eight anti-ship missiles and has a range of approximately 1,700 kilometers.

The ISW think tank assumes that the Russian armed forces want to use the combat drones to destroy western weapon stocks. With the US-supplied HIMARS multiple rocket launcher, Ukraine achieved military success against Russian depots and supply lines.