The Unmanned Systems Forces (USF) of the Armed Forces of Ukraine that specializes in drone warfare and the use of unmanned military robots on land, sea, and air, released a video of the combat crew of the Vampire UAV of the Flying Skull battalion, which is used to bombard enemy positions.
"The operators of the Unmanned Systems Forces successfully perform their tasks, quickly and accurately neutralizing the enemy even before he has time to realize the threat," the USF report says.
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""Vampire" appears at night, sneaking up on its victim unnoticed. He instills fear and horror, at this moment the victim realizes that he made the wrong choice in his life, stepping on Ukrainian soil," — described their work in "Flying Skull".
The Vampire UAV is a Ukrainian attack drone developed by the Ukrainian company SkyFall. The development of the drone and serial production began in 2022 - already during the full-scale invasion of the russian federation into Ukraine.
The Vampire UAV is a hexacopte. The drone can carry 15 kg of ammunition or other cargo, can climb up to 400 meters in height and has a flight range of up to 10 km. It can carry and drop different types of projectiles — thermobaric, cumulative, high-explosive fragmentation, which makes it possible to effectively hit different types of targets, including tanks and other armored vehicles.
Vampire UAVs are equipped with thermal imaging cameras, so they are mainly used at night, confirming their name. The russian occupiers gave the Vampire UAV the nickname Baba Yaga.
"Baba Yaga" is a reference to the Slavic mythological creature, Baba Yaga, a supernatural witch who flies around in a cauldron or mortar. In August 2023, The Daily Beast reported that Chechen soldiers of the Russian armed forces claimed the drone had claws and could abduct soldiers.
The drone is quite heavy, which provides it with a fairly high stability. In particular, there was a recorded case when one of the Vampire drons was shot down by the russian Armed Forces, but was able to return due to its high strength and endurance.
The Vampire UAV is being purchased for the Armed Forces of Ukraine as part of the "Army of Drones" project via the UNITED24 fundraising platform. The price for one UAV starts at $10,000.
The USF was created in the midst of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, and was formally established on 11 June 2024. Ukraine is the first country to have a branch of its military dedicated to unmanned systems.
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