The international delegation, headed by Ana Lucía Bueno, ICRC Public Health Coordinator, and Sujit Panda, Head of the Physical Rehabilitation…
By knocking out enemy air-defense systems and radars, drone pilots of the Luftwaffe Regiment clear the sky for Ukrainian aviators.
Recently, Luftwaffe Regiment pilots destroyed a Russian Buk system.
Details and the significance of the combat episode were shared during an ArmyTV livestream on March 3 by Major Mykola Kolesnyk, call sign “Tyson”, commander of the 422nd Separate Unmanned Systems Regiment Luftwaffe.
“The target was almost 100 kilometers from the launch line. They felt quite comfortable there, because few operate at such distances.
This Buk had assumed operational duty. Nearby, luckily for us, stood a reloading station, its TZM, but we chose this particular target.
The first strike was to prevent it from driving away and to disable it, and the second strike caused detonation of the warhead mounted on it”, — he said.
Destroying enemy targets at such distances is becoming routine, as the Luftwaffe Regiment operates deep behind enemy lines — including distances beyond 100 km.
“We work both 5 km from the front line and 100+ km deep, carrying out operational-tactical level missions.
When weather permits and there is an opportunity, we work very successfully. We have also directly targeted radar systems.
We have ‘mid-strike’ crews working on infrastructure objects used by the Russian army. And generally, we work on air-defense systems”, — the officer explained.
The Buk is far from the only “trophy” of the Luftwaffe Regiment, as its drone pilots regularly strike infrastructure used by the enemy army and destroy valuable, scarce equipment.
“Before this, we had already struck an S-300 and several enemy tactical-level radars. This segment is one of the leading areas of our regiment.
When you hit a radar or a Buk, you primarily think about diversifying risks for our aviation, which performs very important work.
By destroying enemy air-defense systems, we allow our aviation to work deeper and more safely so they can accomplish their tasks.
It’s not just ‘look, we blew up a Buk, we’re so cool’. No. First of all, we think about how this, in a complex way across the entire axis and to an operational-tactical depth, allows our pilots to work safely — pilots of our aircraft who help hold the frontline and destroy very important targets. This is extremely important”, — Major Mykola Kolesnyk explained.
Among other important tasks of the Luftwaffe Regiment’s drone teams is the fight against Russian drone operators and counter-battery engagements against enemy artillery.
However, knocking out enemy air-defense systems is the top priority, because this inflicts the most painful losses on the Russians.
“Due to sanctions, some types of air-defense systems — I won’t say specifically about the Buk-M1 — but Pantsirs, Tors, have become scarce, hard-to-replace assets.
Every day, when elite SBS crews destroy enemy air-defense systems and radars — this is essentially the core activity that ensures the entire axis can operate safely.
These are scarce assets, they don’t have many, you can’t just buy them in a supermarket”, — the commander of the 422nd Separate Unmanned Systems Regiment Luftwaffe emphasized.
