this post was submitted on 10 May 2024
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It’s the deepest Ukrainian drone strike of the war, so far

A month after Ukraine began bombarding targets inside Russia with explosives-laden sports planes modified for remote flight, one of the do-it-yourself drones has struck an oil refinery in the city of Salavat, more than 800 miles from the front line of Russia’s wider war on Ukraine.

It is, by far, Ukraine’s longest-range raid—and an escalation of Ukraine’s deep-strike campaign targeting Russian refineries, factories and strategic military sites.

And it’s at least the fourth attempted deep strike involving Ukraine’s sport-plane drones. Videos shot by people on the ground in Salavat clearly depict the wide straight wings, fixed wheels and propeller that are typical of an inexpensive sport plane, the kind a middle-class pilot can build at home from a kit costing as little as $90,000.

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[–] [email protected] 141 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (4 children)

I thought maybe the thumbnail was just some generic small plane, but nope. That's the same model that keeps making successful attacks in Russia. The Aeroprakt A-22. That little prop plane. Top speed 127 mph/204 kph. That's what Russia can't find and shoot down.

[–] [email protected] 47 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Which is most effective at evading Russian air defense? The F-35, an exquisitely designed $110M jet with among the best stealth that Lockheed Skunkworks can create, or the Ukrainian equivalent of a Cessna trainer aircraft?

[–] [email protected] 11 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Depends heavily on what air defense it's stacked against and who coordinated the mission.

Low speed, low altitude aircraft are excellent at evading higher end air defenses, particularly if you've scouted out the anti-air surveillance in advance.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Riminder the Bismarck wasnt critically damaged by top of the line aircraft, it was sunk by a bunch of biplanes which were effectively immune to its AA.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 months ago (2 children)

A great example, setting aside the fact that battleships have always been more trouble than they were worth.

Although, modern aircraft carriers are approaching that kind of outdated-ness. I'm genuinely curious to see what happens when America loses it's first $50B floating fortress.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

Saying they were always more trouble than they were worth is a bit of a miss though: They completely dominated for a period, to the point where entire columns would be redirected or kept in port if intelligence arrived saying that a certain battleship had left port and was on the hunt.

As for the "modern" aircraft carrier: I think it will remain viable until we see a fundamental paradigm shift in how naval warfare is conducted. A carrier is at the centre of a carrier strike group, and is probably one of the most well protected places on the planet at any time, and can move at over 40 knots. I have a hard time imagining what could locate and take out an alert carrier in reasonable distance from shore, other than another carrier group.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I have a hard time imagining what could locate and take out an alert carrier in reasonable distance from shore, other than another carrier group.

Bombers and long range torpedos spring to mind, particularly when the carrier is moving through a relatively right corridor, like the Red Sea.

The Houthis have already functionally shut down the Suez against commercial traffic just by threatening from the coast. And they're employing relatively unsophisticated artillery.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I specified "a reasonable distance from shore" because an important part of the point of a carrier is exactly that it can stay easily 100 km from shore and still strike far inland. If a carrier is in range of shore-based torpedoes, they've likely messed up long ago.

As for bombers: They're historically the major threat to carriers, but I don't see any modern developments that make modern bombers any more of a threat to modern carriers than WW2 era bombers were to WW2 era carriers.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

“a reasonable distance from shore”

Gets farther and farther away as long range artillery improves.

I don’t see any modern developments that make modern bombers any more of a threat to modern carriers than WW2 era bombers were

Jet engines have been a BFD for some time. They've forced significant investment in countermeasures, few of which have been tested in combat.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Long range artillery has pretty hard limits, and once you approach the 100km range, time to target becomes a real issue, even for missiles that can be shot down.

Modern anti-air hat a range of several hundred km, and has been combat tested. More short-range systems (< 50 km) are in use (with huge success) every day in Ukraine. Of course bombers have also improved, but I wouldn't put money on the bombers having improved relative to the AA.

Ps. I'm not the person downvoting you, I think you make a decent point, I just disagree :)

[–] [email protected] 0 points 6 months ago

once you approach the 100km range, time to target becomes a real issue, even for missiles that can be shot down.

The Red Sea is at most 300 km wide, and tightens up quiet a bit as you approach the Suez.

And Iran has supersonic torpedos capable of closing that distance in very short order.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoot_(torpedo)

Ps. I’m not the person downvoting you, I think you make a decent point, I just disagree :)

Anything that isn't reflexively nationalist gets an ambient amount of hate on Lemmy.world.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago

Battlships filled roughly the same position heavy tanks once filled, big heavy hitters that could take a beating. But with the march of progress came their downfall, that and the adoption of different fleet tactics.

I suspect that the big Carriers will be replaced with something more akin to smaller carriers, kinda like what Japan uses. Though those are definitely just destroyers no carriers here. But yeah with VTOL large aircraft carriers will most likely end up being decommissioned or turned into portable hospitals or soemthing specifically the nuclear ones.

[–] [email protected] 39 points 6 months ago

It has always been the Cessna, if anyone has not heard of Mathias Rust. It is worth reading. He flew a light aircraft to Moscow and landed it in the middle of the cold war.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathias_Rust

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago (2 children)

They must have done something to it, because Wikipedia puts its max range as 680 miles.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 6 months ago

Adding a 5 gallons gas tank isn't that hard.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Empty weight 260 kg. So a normal Pilot 70-80 kg adds 25-30% weight on top. Plus the weight for seat, steering wheels etc. So with a small payload they probably safe quite some weight.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago (4 children)

We aren't talking about the weight of the payload though. Don't you need a fairly hefty bomb to meaningfully damage a refinery?

If the answer is no, I would love to see this strategy implemented in a longer ranged plane. Russia's main tank production factory is about 2000 miles from the nominal Ukrainian border.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Don’t you need a fairly hefty bomb to meaningfully damage a refinery?

Depends on where you drop it.

But otherwise, the headline is almost certainly overstated. It makes for some sexy war propaganda, though.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

It does also show Russia that Ukraine is capable of bypassing their defenses and successfully attacking infrastructure (or military installations/encampments) several hundred kilometers inside Russia.

And doing it multiple times.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 6 months ago

Ukraine is capable of bypassing their defenses

That's never been in doubt. It's been a war of attrition from day one.

The extended range in a gonzo mission is notable precisely because it's so desperate.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 months ago (1 children)

A refinery has a tank with millions of liters of gasoline. It already has the bomb. All you really need is a penetrator and an igniter.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

A refinery has a tank with millions of liters of gasoline

Typically buried underground.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 6 months ago (1 children)

You… got a source for that?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 6 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Fifteen here. Underground tanks are not that common. They are a maintenance and environmental nightmare. But it would be nice if you could provide with any evidence other than “trust me bro”.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Underground tanks are not that common. They are a maintenance and environmental nightmare.

https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/2015/10/19/124674/on-edge-of-houston-underground-caverns-store-huge-quantities-of-natural-gas-liquids/

http://www.gazprominfo.com/articles/gas-storage/

Underground salt plumes are some of the most efficient natural forms of liquid and gas storage.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

So all you need to do to build a tank is to move your entire facility to where natural geology favors not building a tank?

That still says nothing about the prevalence of above ground vs underground tanks.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

So all you need to do to build a tank is to move your entire facility to where natural geology favors not building a tank?

Large storage facilities are located where geology makes storing energy underground cheap.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Man, now you’re just moving goalposts. Did they blow up a refinery or whatever you’re cooking up in your head? It’s clear you’re not having an honest discourse here. Goodbye.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 6 months ago

Did they blow up a refinery

It's not clear how much damage they did or if they even fully halted operations. Normally, you want to hit a facility like that more than once.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

Total weight is crucial for how far a plane can fly. So - Pilot weight + Payload weight needs to be considered.

In terms of damage, if you hit the right spot without redundancies you can shut down or severely limit operations of a plant even with only a small material damage. Even if there is no visible damage, reducing the structural integrity of pressure pipes and the like can force a shutdown of that equipment until the damage is properly investigated.

In 2019 Houthis successfully attacked two Saudi refineries with a small swarm of drones, forcing a shutdown.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abqaiq%E2%80%93Khurais_attack

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

Good context, cheers

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

From the pictures on twitter damage seems pretty minimal.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 6 months ago

Plis adding extra fuel tanks in spota for cargo/pilot etc. prob helps and striping it off anything unnecessary like seats breaks etc...

[–] [email protected] 16 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Is this essentially a piper cub or something entirely different?

[–] [email protected] 22 points 6 months ago

Similar, yeah. More modern construction and side-by-side seating instead of tandem. But otherwise, similar size and weight.

[–] [email protected] 59 points 6 months ago

Girkin is in jail, you know, so now they have issues shooting down civilian aircraft