Belarusian aircraft shoots down lost Russian drone amid Ukrainian conflict
During the extensive missile attack supported by Russian drones on Ukraine, an unexpected incident occurred. One of the Russian drones was shot down by a Belarusian aircraft. Here, we present the details of this event and the machines involved.
According to the Belarusian Hajun group on Telegram, which monitors military activity in Belarus, on 29 August, the first-ever military object was shot down by Belarusian military aviation in a historic event.
The target turned out to be a Russian Shahed-136 drone, which likely got lost, possibly due to the influence of Ukrainian electronic warfare systems. The Shahed-136 drone was eventually shot down by a Belarusian aircraft near Yelsk in the Gomel region after about 20 minutes of tracking.
Shahed-136: the most frequently used drone by Russians
The Shahed-136 is the most popular drone model used by the Russian armed forces. It features a delta wing structure with a wingspan of 2.4 metres, two vertical stabilisers placed at the ends of the wings, and its overall length is 3.4 metres. Furthermore, commercial components available on the market are used for its production.
The drone has a mass of 200 kilograms, of which 50 kilograms is the warhead. The remaining mass includes, among others, a fuel tank for the Chinese boxer engine with a power of 68 horsepower, which is a copy of the German LIMBACH L550 E engine, popular among model-makers. The onboard fuel supply is estimated to be sufficient to cover up to 2,500 kilometres.
The guidance technology of the Shahed-136 is quite primitive and allows only flight along a pre-planned route. This only allows targeting stationary targets, and the accuracy of these drones is low. For this reason, Shaheds are not suitable for attacking military targets and, in practice, serve mainly to intimidate civilians in cities or as support for other means of attack, such as cruise missiles.
With proper attack synchronisation, the mass use of cheap Shahed drones can pose a significant problem for the target's air defence, as the risk of, for example, Kh-101 cruise missiles penetrating increases. Simply put, the air defence might not have enough time to shoot down all the objects.
Belarusian military aviation — post-Soviet museum
The core of Belarusian aviation consists of several dozens of Soviet-era MiG-29 and Su-25 aircraft, accompanied by a few much newer Su-30 aircraft and Yak-130 trainers. A MiG-29, Su-30, or Yak-130 likely hunted the Shahed.
The MiG-29 aircraft were designed in the 1970s and entered service in 1983. The primary purpose of designing the MiG-29 was to create a competitor for the American F-16.
The MiG-29 is a twin-engine design much smaller and lighter than the Su-27 aircraft, as evidenced by its weight of 11,000 kilograms and a payload of only 4,000 kilograms carried on seven pylons. The armament mainly includes short-range R-73 air-to-air missiles, outdated medium-range R-27 missiles, aerial bombs weighing up to 500 kilograms, and rocket launchers.
Belarusian military aviation — a few new additions from Russia
A much more dangerous opponent is the recently acquired Su-30 from the Russians, an evolution of the Su-27 air superiority fighter. Compared to the original model, the new construction is now fully multi-role, capable of performing both fighter and ground attack missions.
For this reason, the Su-30 is a much heavier design, weighing 18,000 kilograms and capable of carrying up to 8,000 kilograms of armament on 12 pylons. The arsenal includes many types of the latest Russian-guided air-to-air missiles, such as R-77, various types of air-to-ground missiles, and guided FAB bombs with UMPK modules, which have caused horror in Ukraine.
The last machine that might have participated in shooting down the Shahed is the Yak-130 aircraft. It is a training design created by the Russian company Yakovlev and introduced into service in 2010.
Interestingly, the aircraft was initially developed in collaboration with Italians, but ultimately, two similar machines were created. The Italians designed the M-346 Master, and the Russians got the Yak-130.
In addition to pilot training, the aircraft can also be used for bombing targets with light bombs or for patrolling airspace. In the latter case, it is much cheaper than using a larger machine, and for checking what is happening or shooting down a drone with a cannon or R-73 missiles, the Yak-130 is perfectly sufficient.
