On November 26, russian forces fired on a civilian An-2 aircraft over the Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat oil refinery in Bashkiria, mistaking it for a Ukrainian kamikaze drone.
The facility, located 1,400 kilometers from Ukraine, had previously been targeted by Ukrainian long-range drones in May.
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The An-2, operated by Lite Air and conducting an aerial photography flight on the Ufa-Salavat-Ufa route, sustained damage but successfully exited the fire zone and landed in Ufa.
Video evidence shows numerous impacts on the fuselage from machine guns and small-caliber cannons, including a significant hole in the lower wing, likely caused by a 23-mm shell.
While it is clear that the crew of the aircraft was quite fortunate, the An-2, designed by the renowned Ukrainian aircraft engineer Oleg Antonov, once again proved its exceptional durability. Despite the damage, the aircraft’s critical systems, including its fuel tanks located in the upper wing, remained intact.
It is worth noting that in 1948, the An-2 was adopted by the Soviet Air Force. At that time, a vast amount of experience in designing aircraft to enhance their survivability under anti-aircraft fire had already been accumulated.
This wealth of experience and knowledge is now objectively regaining its significance due to the renewed active deployment of Anti-aircraft warfare based on small-caliber automatic cannons and machine guns. Therefore, when designing modern long-range drones, it would not be amiss to dust off the developments of the 1940s from the pre-missile era.
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