Main points
- Ukrainian drones successfully penetrated the protective cover of the Iskander base in Crimea, damaging the facilities inside.
- The attack likely used medium-range drones with powerful warheads, such as the FP-2.
Ukrainian drones attacked an important target in Crimea / Collage by Channel 24, illustrative photo
The strike by Ukrainian drones on the base of Russian Iskander tactical missile systems near the village of Ovrazhki in temporarily occupied Crimea demonstrated the new capabilities of Ukrainian forces.
The corresponding complexes were located in shelters that had to be penetrated, Defense Express reports.
What is special about the attack on the base in Crimea?
The main difficulty was probably the technical aspect, since the location of the launchers was known in advance. Launches were repeatedly recorded from this location, but the necessary means for the attack were not enough.
The affected site was the site of a former Soviet missile regiment division, which previously housed ballistic missiles. Russian forces used the old infrastructure and stored Iskander systems there.
The approximate dimensions of a large shelter are 45 by 27 meters, and a smaller one is 25 by 18 meters. Such structures have thick concrete floors up to 40-60 centimeters and an additional layer of soil, making them particularly difficult to hit.
It is really difficult to penetrate such protection, especially when it comes to warheads mounted on drones. But judging by the footage, it was still possible to damage the objects, and most importantly, what was inside.
– the article says.
The target was likely hit by drones with more powerful warheads. In particular, these are medium-range devices, such as the FP-2 with a warhead weighing approximately 105 kilograms.
According to Defence Express, for penetrating such shelters, not only the mass of the warhead is crucial, but also, above all, kinetic energy, which depends on speed and the special durable design of the hull.
The publication writes that if the ammunition cannot be accelerated to the required speed, tandem warheads are used, which have a preliminary shaped charge that punches a hole, after which the main part hits the target.
For example, such a warhead is installed on Storm Shadow / SCALP cruise missiles.
What is known about this attack?
On the night of April 28, the Ukrainian Armed Forces' Special Operations Forces attacked a Russian base located south of the settlement of Mizhhirya. NASA's FIRMS satellite service recorded the source of the fire that broke out after the strike by Ukrainian drones.
It is known that the Russians usually launch ballistic missiles from there into Ukraine. It was noted that the use of the aforementioned complexes allows the occupiers to use Iskander-K and Iskander-M simultaneously for attacks.
What was attacked in Crimea before?
The Ukrainian Navy recently attacked two Russian boats in the Kerch Strait that were guarding the bridge. These were the Russian FSB patrol boat “Sobol” and the anti-sabotage boat “Grachonok”.
We will remind, earlier in Crimea at the Kacha airfield, the Ukrainian military attacked an air defense control point, a ground-based radar interrogator “Parol-4” (1L22), as well as a radar station “MR-10”.
Previously, the SBU used UAVs to attack the Russian Black Sea Fleet naval base and the Belbek airfield. As a result, they managed to hit the large landing ships Yamal and Filchenkov, as well as a number of other vessels.