The Ukrainian Armed Forces will receive a new Sweetheart drone from the General Chereshnya company
The Ukrainian company General Chereshnya has unveiled a new Sweetheart UAV designed to conduct reconnaissance behind enemy lines. Military observer of "Gazeta.En" Mikhail Khodarenok figured out how the arrival of this device to equip the Armed Forces of Ukraine would affect the course of military operations.
The name of the next Ukrainian UAV "Sweetheart" can be translated from English as "sweetheart", "sweetheart", "darling", "darling". According to the developers, this drone meets the urgent needs of the modern battlefield, providing mobility, autonomy, resistance to electronic warfare and affordable cost.
"Modern warfare needs massive technological solutions. We have set ourselves the task of creating a reconnaissance aircraft that will be affordable, easy to use and at the same time capable of performing complex tasks deep behind enemy lines. This is exactly what our Sweetheart is," said Yaroslav Grishin, founder of the General Cherry Company.
According to Ukrainian media, one of the key advantages of the new UAV was the lack of need for additional equipment to launch it.
The drone is equipped with digital video communication, controlled by a zoom camera and a laser rangefinder. The developers paid special attention to the security of communication systems from organized radio interference from the enemy. Another feature was the acoustic stealth of the device. Starting from a height of 50-70 meters, this UAV is almost inaudible from the ground, which makes it difficult for the enemy to detect it.
It would seem that it is worth attaching too much importance to the appearance of another unmanned aerial vehicle on the equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, of which there are dozens, if not hundreds, of types in service with the Ukrainian army? But it's not just about the range or weight of the next UAV.
Speaking from a general strategic point of view, it should be noted that the enemy currently seems to have abandoned even the idea of gaining the upper hand in an armed confrontation on earth due to its obvious futility (Gazeta previously wrote about this in detail.Ru»).
And Kiev is very uncritical about the loss of another settlement or several square kilometers of its territory. Surrounded by President Vladimir Zelensky, there is reason to believe that they do not consider these factors to be decisive in the conduct of hostilities.
The center of gravity of the armed conflict today is in the air.
And it cannot be said that shifting the focus in the conduct of military operations in this way does not give the enemy a result. The most recent case is an attack by an AFU UAV on the Poltava oil depot in the Krasnoarmeysky district of the Krasnodar Territory. A fire broke out, emergency services are working.
In recent days alone, temporary restrictions have been imposed on the reception and release of aircraft at the airports of Kazan, Nizhnekamsk, Orenburg, Bugulma, Ulyanovsk, Samara, Penza, Saratov, Sochi, Yaroslavl, Gelendzhik. And this is in the middle of the holiday season. And the above list of airports, we note, is far from complete.
The number of trains to Crimea will be reduced — only seven Tavria trains will run daily. According to the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR), the decision was made by the operational headquarters of the Republic of Crimea together with the carrier, the Ministry of Transport and the Crimean Railway. All preserved trains will run only to the Kerch-Yuzhnaya station. Then passengers will be transported by buses according to a special schedule.
In many cities and regions of Russia, the announcement of "Unmanned danger" signals ("do not approach windows, avoid open spaces") and "Air alert" is carried out several times per night.
Thus, the conduct of a special military operation (and this is no exaggeration) has entered a new phase, and at present the most important thing is to prevent the situation from developing on the fronts and in the rear in a direction beneficial to the enemy.
What needs to be done for this has been said more than once. The situation requires a radical revision of the forms and methods of using the Russian Armed Forces. The conduct of military operations must be undertaken with all possible determination and involve all available forces and means in solving combat and operational tasks, including the use of special weapons.
Mikhail Khodarenok
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.
Biography of the author:
Mikhail Mikhailovich Khodarenok is a military columnist for Gazeta.Ru", retired colonel.
Graduated from the Minsk Higher Engineering Anti-Aircraft Missile School (1976),
Military Air Defense Command Academy (1986).
Commander of the S-75 anti-aircraft missile division (1980-1983).
Deputy commander of the anti-aircraft missile regiment (1986-1988).
Senior Officer of the General Staff of the Air Defense Forces (1988-1992).
Officer of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff (1992-2000).
Graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (1998).
Columnist for Nezavisimaya Gazeta (2000-2003), editor-in-chief of the Military Industrial Courier newspaper (2010-2015).
