The new tactic allows you to hide the drone's route until the moment of impact.
In the Dobropolsky area, calculations of unmanned systems use a new tactical technique — the "Mask" mode. It helps to make it difficult for enemy electronic intelligence to detect the launch point and flight route of a drone. The Izvestia correspondent visited the positions of the battalion of unmanned systems of the 110th brigade of the 51st Guards Army of the Center group of forces and saw how the Lightning bolts were being prepared for departure and used against fortified positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
How the Lightning drones are being prepared for flight
When we come to the calculations of the Lightning aircraft-type attack UAVs, we immediately ask about the new products that we can see. In the press and, of course, in the stories that go around the front, new versions with automatic target acquisition and aircraft with an increased number of engines are being discussed. The first Zippers had a single pusher propeller, the Molniya-2 has already become twin-engine, and recently versions with four motors have appeared.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Astrakhan
Image source: iz.ru
But the standard Molniya-2 is being prepared for departure, and we will see the novelty only in the pilot's work.
The ammunition is being centered and installed on the assembly table. A massive cylinder of an unfamiliar type takes its place in the nose compartment, and the crew quickly and confidently centers the airframe with the load. The sapper explains that this board will come with ammunition from the radiation, chemical and Biological Protection Unit (RCBZ).
— Roughly speaking, this is what is called a flamethrower. The RCBZ unit makes these ammunition, they are equipped as standard, with the same detonator. They have very good efficiency on the battlefield. He can "dismantle" a dugout, a shelter, and hit a live force with shrapnel. It won't work against armored vehicles, it's designed against manpower," says a sapper technician with the call sign Sukhoi.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Astrakhan
Image source: iz.ru
A more experienced Gogol, who is working on centering, adds that the enemy's UAV control points were successfully hit with such ammunition, the antennas were burned, and when accurately hitting rural houses, it happened that the roofs were completely lifted from the powerful high-explosive effect. The weigh-in is coming to an end, Gogol confirms that the board is perfectly prepared, and then pre-flight checks are carried out on the catapult. And Gogol and I are going to the control room, in this flight he will drive the car. Already from our workplace, we hear on the walkie-talkie that Sukhoi has worked out, that is, he has connected the electric detonator, and the drone can launch when ready.
The drone takes off. As soon as the "Lightning" gains altitude and enters the set course, the pilot presses a button, and the image on the screen narrows sharply — less than a quarter of the frame remains. This is how a new mode called "Mask" begins to work.
— We turn on the "Mask" so that the enemy does not see where you are: neither the take-off point nor the flight route could be recaptured by intercepting the signal. The complete transmission of all parameters is hidden and, accordingly, the interceptors on the other side do not see us," Gogol says.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Astrakhan
Image source: iz.ru
However, the mode complicates the work of the operator himself. To confidently drive the device almost blindly, you need a lot of experience, excellent knowledge of the terrain and pre-determined routes. Using a small fragment of the image, the pilot must determine his position, altitude and speed.
Gogol says that he has been flying on "Lightning" since their appearance in the unit — since 2023.
How the Lightning drone hits targets
— Our crew has more than seven thousand sorties on this modification of the Lightning alone. It happened that 27 sides were practiced in a day, and then there were night sorties, night and day orientation," says the pilot.
According to our interlocutor, the Mask has significantly reduced the number of successful interceptions. The pilot turns off the "Mask" mode already above the target, before the combat approach, when 10-20 seconds remain before the defeat, this is too short to make a decision and intercept. And it takes too long to aim interceptors and raise them, focusing solely on visual detection by surveillance posts.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Astrakhan
Image source: iz.ru
On approach to the target, Gogol puts on glasses, the picture "falls out" several times, but he still continues to work in the "Mask" mode, including the full image a second before diving: the car goes straight to the target, and when the image is lost, the pilot takes off his glasses and calmly begins to pack them into a case.
According to the camera timer, it takes exactly ten seconds from disabling the "Mask" to losing the signal. This feeling of the moment comes only after thousands of hours of flying and a lot of combat experience.
— We have reached our goal, and now we are waiting for confirmation from objective control, but I think we have worked well. It was an enemy fortified area, possibly with enemy manpower," the fighter comments.
Drones are increasingly fighting drones in the sky today. However, the outcome of this confrontation still largely depends on the people - commanders, engineers and operators, who are looking for new ways to bypass the enemy on a daily basis. Behind the short shots of objective control, the main battle remains unnoticeable — the competition of technology, tactical decisions and pilot skills.
Dmitry Astrakhan
