Russia arms drones with nails for aerial superiority in potential UAV clash

To gain an "advantage" in an "aerial battle" with another drone, the Russian Federation began to hang nails on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Defense Express reports that.

While drone "air battles" are not common, they likely happen more frequently than one may anticipate. In this instance, the opposing forces devised a novel method to gain the upper hand in combat against other unmanned aerial vehicles.

"We spotted a copter, attached nails to our own, and landed on the enemy's. As a result, the drone's nails struck its blades, causing them to break and the drone to crash," one of the Russian instructors of the front-line school of reconnaissance UAVs and attack FPV drones said.

^{Photo: Defense Express}

However, the instructor's statement suggests it is not about random incidents but purposeful "hunting" for other drones.

Meanwhile, the publication also suggests that the nailing method may ultimately be the initiative of purely individual units.

"Of course, the luck and skill of the drone operator remain an important factor in bringing down a drone in the air, but while the idea of ​​a drone with nails seems to be another fantasy of the "local kulibins"[Ivan Kulibin was a Russian inventor – ed.], it can be assumed that this could be one of the options for combating drones in the air," Defense Express writes.

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It should be noted that the Defense Forces recently shot down a Russian drone in an "aerial battle" at an altitude of more than 3,600 meters.

Moreover, last year, Russia started production of a new Garpiya-A1 long-range attack drone using Chinese components.

Reuters recently reviewed documents which revealed that the Izhevsk Electromechanical Plant "Kupol," a subsidiary of the Russian state concern "Almaz-Antey," manufactured over 2,500 Garpiya UAVs between July 2023 and July 2024. The revelation of this new Russian drone, utilizing Chinese technology, was not publicly known before.

According to the publication's intelligence sources, Russia is using Garpiya drones to attack military and civilian targets in Ukraine. This drone is "very similar to Shahed" but has a few differences.

In addition, the Ukrainian defense forces used a ground drone to capture the Russian unmanned aerial vehicle "Orlan."

It should be noted that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine's armed forces have destroyed more than 15,000 Russian drones.