Drone operators of the Signum detachment belonging to the 93rd Mechanized Brigade of Ukrainian Armed Forces have destroyed a unique vehicle crafted by the russian invasion forces. An Ural truck with an RBU-6000 naval rocket launcher (domestically called "bomb thrower") is meant to perform similarly to a typical multiple launch rocket system. Similar installations were also observed on armored chassis like T-80 or MT-LB, and russians gave all of them a colloquial name Smerch-2.
The following video showing the destruction of this hybrid weapon from the thermal-camera POV of the suicide drone was published by fundraising activist and volunteer Serhii Sternenko. The elimination of the russian combat asset was executed by Signum in cooperation with the 80th Air Assault Brigade in the Bakhmut operational axis.
Read more: RBU-6000 Rocket Launcher on MT-LB Chassis is a Weird Weapon But it Works and it Shoots
In fact, this is the second time lately that Signum has taken down this non-standard rocket system with FPV drones. Previously, a video showing such a unit getting destroyed was published on March 17th.
Воїни Signum 93 ОМБр вашими теплими дронами уразили російського «монстра Франкенштейна» — корабельну реактивну установку РБУ 6000 на базі Уралу. Раніше такий був помічений у окупованому Алчевську.Бонусом прибили ще один Камаз, якраз коли росіяни починали з нього тікати… pic.twitter.com/GkSbpAMRuP — Serhii Sternenko (@sternenko) March 17, 2024
Earlier Defense Express discussed this hybrid weapon in detail. In conventional naval conditions, the RBU-6000 can fire only as far as 5.2 km which makes it quite a risky weapon to operate, considering Ukrainian FPV drones can fly 10 km deep into the russian rear, some types reach even further. The max rate of fire for the launcher is one shot every 2.4 seconds, the accuracy is low because the whole idea is that the bomb thrower is expected to carpet-fire enemy warships.
The question remains, though, of how the fire control and ammunition loading is arranged. According to a russian military blogger, each rocket-propelled bomb weighs 120 kg, which must be loaded by hand if done in field conditions. The same source claims it takes "25 to 30 seconds" to discharge the entire pack of 12 rounds, one such bomb can annihilate a house if it hits. Moreover, the operator of this improvised rocket system said that each 213mm depth charge bomb is tweaked before being loaded into the package: the fuze gets replaced with additional pre-formed fragments to increase its lethality.
Read more: Rare Case: Ukrainian FPV Drone Strikes russian BM-27 Uragan MLRS
