Latest news with #Militarnyi
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Czech company completes construction of projectile production line in Ukraine
Czech defence giant Czechoslovak Group has almost completed the construction of an artillery projectile production line in Ukraine. Source: Ukrainian military news outlet Militarnyi Details: The Czechoslovak Group will soon complete the construction of a production line to manufacture 155 mm artillery projectiles as part of a joint project with the Ukrainian government. "The production site is at the final stage of preparation for launch, but we cannot announce a specific date at this time," the company's representatives said at a briefing at the Czechoslovak Group headquarters. Militarnyi reports that the company will produce the main range of ammunition included in the Czechoslovak Group's production offer. The Czech company is solely responsible for preparing the production line, while the Ukrainian side is responsible for all other organisational processes. In addition, the briefing stressed that the company will be located in an area with a low risk of missile attacks, which will ensure stable and uninterrupted production in the future. The briefing also revealed the types of ammunition that will be produced in Ukraine under the license. These are 155-mm artillery rounds M107, 155-mm artillery rounds L15 of increased power and 155-mm long-range artillery round HE ER-BT/BB MKM/VMK. Additionally, 105-mm high explosive incendiary artillery rounds M1 NE and 120-mm tank rounds of an unspecified type will be produced as well. Background: Ukrainian Armour signed a package of documents on cooperation with the Czech holding Czechoslovak Group (CSG) in October 2024. One agreement concerns the supply of components, and the other concerns the licensing of ammunition production (transfer of technology and documentation for the production of artillery rounds). "We plan to produce and supply about 100,000 rounds of ammunition next year and more than 300,000 in 2026. The equipment preparation process has already started," said Vladyslav Belbas, CEO of Ukrainian Armour. Czechoslovak Group AS reported record sales and profitability for last year as the war in Ukraine boosted demand for heavy ammunition and combat vehicles manufactured by the Prague-based company. Revenue jumped 71% to €1.73 billion (about US$1.9 billion), said the defence conglomerate known as CSG, owned by Czech billionaire Michal Strnad. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation rose 130% to €439 million. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Telegraph
6 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
China's ‘Silent Hunter' laser gun shooting down Ukrainian drones
Russia has been using a Chinese-made laser to shoot down Ukrainian drones despite persistent claims from Beijing it is not offering military support to Moscow. New footage shows Russian troops operating the Silent Hunter Low-Altitude Laser Defence System, and taking out Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) nearly a mile away. The weapon would be one of the most significant and sophisticated pieces of equipment that Russia has obtained from China during the three-year war on Ukraine. Designed to search for, track and take down enemy drones, the laser can be mounted on top of an SUV and operated from within the vehicle. From there, it can detect targets 3.1 miles away, blind them at two miles away and shoot them down when they are a mile out. The 30-kilowatt laser can pierce a 5mm-thick steel plate 1,000m away. It takes just eight seconds between locking onto a target and bringing it down. In a video shared on Russian Telegram channels, the laser is seen slowly emerging from a camouflage net before shooting towards a steel plate in the distance and piercing it with several holes. The video continues with a split screen of the laser shooting down Ukrainian UAVs. Ukraine's Vodohrai Telegram channel claimed the drones in the footage were a Shchedryk-type UAV, a Skywalker X8 and a decoy drone known as the Distractor. The footage suggests the drones were shot down from distances greater than 0.8 miles, according to Ukrainian military news outlet Militarnyi. The report also claimed the laser is being operated by a mobile air defence team within the 'Kochevnik' special operations group and has been in use in Russia since at least Oct 2024. The Silent Hunter was developed by the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation and was first put into operation during the G20 summit in Hangzhou, a city in eastern China, in 2016. The system includes radar and an optical station for detection, tracking and targeting. An updated version was revealed in 2024 with an extended hard kill range of 3.7 miles and a soft kill range – the distance needed to blind or interfere – of 6.2 miles. The cost of operating laser weapons is typically less than £10 per shot, which makes them low-cost alternatives to missiles for certain tasks. In comparison, the British Sea Viper missiles that were shot from HMS Diamond in the Red Sea to take down the Iranian-backed Houthis' drones and missiles cost roughly £1 million each. Along with Russia, the Silent Hunter is known to be in use in Saudi Arabia and in Iran. Saudi Arabia has previously deployed the laser system against reconnaissance UAVs used by the Houthi militia in Yemen. Houthis have Iranian-made Shahed-136 kamikaze drones, which are the same as the ones that Russia has used against Ukraine. The Silent Hunter was also spotted in Iran in late 2024 during a public sermon by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. It's unclear how many of the laser systems China has manufactured and sold over the years, but so far only one has been reported in use by Russia, becoming the latest in a long list of Chinese equipment allegedly used by Moscow. Chinese aid for Russia In April, two Chinese soldiers were captured in Ukraine, fighting alongside Russian forces. Western intelligence sources said it was unlikely the soldiers were sent directly by China. Russia routinely recruits foreign nationals into its armed forces through irregular means. In any case, Volodymyr Zelensky said: 'Russia's involvement of China, along with other countries, whether directly or indirectly, in this war in Europe is a clear signal that Putin intends to do anything but end the war. He is looking for ways to continue fighting.' The US called the capture of Chinese citizens fighting for Russia 'disturbing'. Mr Zelensky further accused China of supplying Russia with weapons and gunpowder. A month later, Oleh Ivashchenko, the head of Ukraine's intelligence service, said that Ukraine could 'confirm' that China was providing important materials and equipment to 20 Russian military factories. According to the agency, at least 80 per cent of the electronics used in Russian drones originated from China. This assessment was backed up by the US state department, which said: 'China is a major enabler of Russia in the war in Ukraine. China provides nearly 80 per cent of the dual-use items Russia needs to sustain the war.' Beijing denied allegations that it sent weapons and gunpowder claiming that 'China has never provided lethal weapons to any party to the conflict' and 'strictly controls dual-use items'. The foreign ministry refused to respond to questions about Russia's use of the Silent Hunter over the phone, instead referring The Telegraph to its daily in person press conference.
Business Insider
24-05-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Ukraine is using helium-filled balloons to extend the range of its attack drones
Against the backdrop of Ukraine's drone-packed skies, one startup is offering a surprisingly low-tech solution to a modern problem. Aerobavovna, which was founded in 2023, is supplying Ukraine's military with tethered, helium-filled balloons equipped with airborne radio repeaters, extending the range and effectiveness of the country's drones. The Russia-Ukraine conflict has been defined by drone warfare, but drone operators have faced a number of challenges, including line-of-sight obstacles, which can cause drones to lose contact if radio signals are disrupted, and electronic warfare systems, which can jam communications. That's where Aerobavovna comes in. The company's aerostats are designed for surveillance, communication, and first-person-view (FPV) drone signal transmission, and help establish stable communication signals in the battlefield's tricky conditions. Fitted with antennas and radio repeaters, Aerobavovna's aerostats anchor high over the battlefield to help Ukrainian drones continue operating in spite of obstacles and to maintain comms over much greater distances. You need "some kind of airborne radio repeater that allows drones to fly closer to the ground," Yuriy Vysoven, Aerobavovna's CEO, told Business Insider. "For ground drones, it's crucial because their ground-to-ground signal would only reach the first hill; beyond that, you lose direct line of sight and, consequently, the connection," he said, adding that about 50 balloons were deployed "all around the front line" in Ukraine. While aerostats aren't new technology, Aerobavovna's products have been designed to meet the demands of the modern battlefield, allowing for rapid deployment times. Aerobavovna's balloons, which the firm says can be deployed in five to 25 minutes, are made with lightweight polymers and can remain airborne for up to seven days. They can lift repeater systems up to a height of 1 km (about 0.6 miles) and carry a payload of up to 25 kg (around 55 lbs), the company said. The company, which says it produces around 10 to 20 balloons per month, recently announced that it had developed a new aerostat capable of carrying more advanced equipment. In an interview with the Ukrainian outlet Militarnyi, engineers from the company said they had created a new model that can hold a payload of up to 66 lbs, enabling it to carry more powerful equipment such as electronic warfare systems. While the company has found success supplying tethered aerostats to the Ukrainian military, it continues to grapple with technical and structural hurdles as it scales. One persistent challenge is maintaining stability and precision in airborne conditions, especially critical for payloads like FPV drone radio repeaters, which require highly accurate antenna positioning. "Stability is a big problem," Vysoven said. "For FPV drone radio repeaters, you need to position the antennas really, really precisely," but wind and turbulence make that very hard. Funding also remains a major constraint. Despite strong demand and a battlefield-proven product, capital is scarce for Ukrainian hardware startups. Vysoven said the company has received investment offers in the range of $40 million, but considers that far below what's needed and called that figure "a shame." "In California, you can raise that with just a pitch deck and a latte. I have a real product, 30 engineers building it, and it's already deployed," he said. "And we still struggle to raise enough to scale," he added.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
A Ukrainian F-16 crashed while fighting off a Russian attack after an 'emergency situation' on board. The pilot survived.
Ukraine's air force said one of its F-16s crashed while fighting off a Russian attack. It said the jet took out three targets but had an issue on board while trying to stop a fourth. Ukraine has now lost at least three F-16s. Ukraine said that one of its F-16 fighter jets crashed while repelling a Russian air attack, but its pilot survived. In an announcement on Friday, Ukraine's air force said that preliminary data showed the pilot destroyed three aerial targets and was targeting a fourth when an issue occurred with the US-made jet. "An emergency situation occurred on board," it said, according to a translation by Ukrainian publication Militarnyi. The air force did not elaborate on what the situation was or whether the Russian targets were drones, missiles, or aircraft. But it said that the pilot safely ejected after moving away from a populated area, and was quickly found and evacuated by a rescue team. It described the pilot as safe and stable. The air force said the incident occurred at around 3:30 a.m. local time on Friday and that a special commission was investigating what happened. Ukraine has lost at least two F-16s before this incident, including one that crashed last year while battling Russian missiles. Ukraine's F-16s, a fighter jet originally produced by General Dynamics and now manufactured by Lockheed Martin, have been used to defend cities and stop Russian attacks. But while that role has been important, many air warfare experts describe it as one that Ukraine has been pushed toward because it doesn't have enough of the jets to use in other roles. Ukraine started requesting F-16s soon after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, but the first ones didn't arrive until the summer of 2024. Some allied countries wanted to send them sooner, but required permission to supply the US-made jets, which the US was initially reluctant to give. The Biden administration was worried their arrival would lead to a Russian escalation and that it would take too long to train Ukrainian pilots to use them and integrate them into its military. However, the US eventually allowed other countries to send the jets. Ukraine has been pledged around 85 F-16s from the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, and Denmark, though not all of them have arrived. None of Ukraine's F-16s have come from the US, although it is sending spare parts. Air warfare experts said that not enough F-16s were given to Ukraine for it to be able to use them offensively Ukraine's F-16s are older models that were previously used by other air forces, and are more limited in their abilities. Despite this, Ukraine is seen to be performing well with the jets. Ret. Col. John Venable, a 25-year veteran of the US Air Force and a former F-16 pilot, told BI in January that Ukraine's air force has made huge leaps and its pilots have demonstrated impressive skills. Troels Lund Poulsen, Denmark's defense minister, told BI in February that Ukraine has dispelled any doubts that it could not handle the jets. "The Ukrainian pilots and the Ukrainian armed forces and air force have also shown that they're able to deal with this new capacity," he said. Among other achievements, it's claimed that a Ukrainian pilot took out six cruise missiles in a single flight, a feat no pilot had achieved before with the jet. The pilot's survival from this latest crash is likely good news for Ukraine. Pilots are often seen as just as important, if not more so, than the jets themselves, as they take a long time to train and are hard to replace. Many air warfare experts say some F-16 losses are to be expected, and that it's not inherently a bad sign that Ukraine has lost some of the jets. Michael Bohnert, an air-warfare expert at RAND Corporation, previously told BI that Ukraine needs to be able to take risks with the jets, and that "if any of the F-16s make it to the end of the war, they probably weren't used hard enough." The remaining F-16s pledged by Ukraine's allies are still due to arrive, and Poulsen, Denmark's defense minister, told BI he hoped more countries would commit to sending additional jets: "More F-16s are needed in Ukraine." Read the original article on Business Insider
Business Insider
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Business Insider
A Ukrainian F-16 crashed while fighting off a Russian attack after an 'emergency situation' on board. The pilot survived.
Ukraine said that one of its F-16 fighter jets crashed while repelling a Russian air attack, but its pilot survived. In an announcement on Friday, Ukraine's air force said that preliminary data showed the pilot destroyed three aerial targets and was targeting a fourth when an issue occurred with the US-made jet. "An emergency situation occurred on board," it said, according to a translation by Ukrainian publication Militarnyi. The air force did not elaborate on what the situation was or whether the Russian targets were drones, missiles, or aircraft. But it said that the pilot safely ejected after moving away from a populated area, and was quickly found and evacuated by a rescue team. It described the pilot as safe and stable. The air force said the incident occurred at around 3:30 a.m. local time on Friday and that a special commission was investigating what happened. Ukraine has lost at least two F-16s before this incident, including one that crashed last year while battling Russian missiles. Ukraine's F-16s, a fighter jet originally produced by General Dynamics and now manufactured by Lockheed Martin, have been used to defend cities and stop Russian attacks. But while that role has been important, many air warfare experts describe it as one that Ukraine has been pushed toward because it doesn't have enough of the jets to use in other roles. Ukraine started requesting F-16s soon after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, but the first ones didn't arrive until the summer of 2024. Some allied countries wanted to send them sooner, but required permission to supply the US-made jets, which the US was initially reluctant to give. The Biden administration was worried their arrival would lead to a Russian escalation and that it would take too long to train Ukrainian pilots to use them and integrate them into its military. However, the US eventually allowed other countries to send the jets. Ukraine has been pledged around 85 F-16s from the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, and Denmark, though not all of them have arrived. None of Ukraine's F-16s have come from the US, although it is sending spare parts. Air warfare experts said that not enough F-16s were given to Ukraine for it to be able to use them offensively Despite this, Ukraine is seen to be performing well with the jets. Ret. Col. John Venable, a 25-year veteran of the US Air Force and a former F-16 pilot, told BI in January that Ukraine's air force has made huge leaps and its pilots have demonstrated impressive skills. Troels Lund Poulsen, Denmark's defense minister, told BI in February that Ukraine has dispelled any doubts that it could not handle the jets. "The Ukrainian pilots and the Ukrainian armed forces and air force have also shown that they're able to deal with this new capacity," he said. Among other achievements, it's claimed that a Ukrainian pilot took out six cruise missiles in a single flight, a feat no pilot had achieved before with the jet. The pilot's survival from this latest crash is likely good news for Ukraine. Pilots are often seen as just as important, if not more so, than the jets themselves, as they take a long time to train and are hard to replace. Many air warfare experts say some F-16 losses are to be expected, and that it's not inherently a bad sign that Ukraine has lost some of the jets. Michael Bohnert, an air-warfare expert at RAND Corporation, previously told BI that Ukraine needs to be able to take risks with the jets, and that "if any of the F-16s make it to the end of the war, they probably weren't used hard enough." The remaining F-16s pledged by Ukraine's allies are still due to arrive, and Poulsen, Denmark's defense minister, told BI he hoped more countries would commit to sending additional jets: "More F-16s are needed in Ukraine."
