Drones repurposed: The new frontline in Ukraine's arms race
Both sides of the Ukraine war are compelled to use substitutes for modern precision weapons, and the best option often consists of drones equipped with any form of explosive charge. Cluster rocket warheads that either failed to fire or did not explode upon impact are ideal ammunition sources. However, these must be extracted from the missile first.
FPV drones have become the most effective method of utilising bomblets from cluster ammunition because they offer pinpoint precision in use. It is not surprising that both Ukrainians and Russians are dismantling cluster warheads and utilising homemade devices or old hand grenades.
Below, you can observe how the Russians dismantle a BM-27 Uragan missile containing 30 bomblets. A Russian demonstrates where to cut the casing and what to unscrew or break, for instance, using a hammer. After accessing the bomblets, he unscrews the fuzes with a wrench. The following recording shows a similar operation carried out by a Ukrainian soldier.
Anti-personnel bomblets — a nightmare for soldiers over a large area
The bomblets extracted by the Russian are 9N210, an anti-personnel variant. Each contains a simple impact fuze with a self-destruct mechanism that is designed to detonate within a maximum of two minutes after being armed.
Each bomblet contains a charge of 370 rods weighing roughly 2 grams each, which have a spread range of several metres. This — combined with the number of bomblets per rocket (30 units) and the salvo size (16 rockets) — creates a vast death zone at the impact site, where the only safe place is a bunker or inside an armoured vehicle.
Unfortunately, the nature and often the technical condition of the rockets used mean that some become unexploded ordnance, posing a threat for decades to come. However, the shortage of charges for drones implies that both sides conduct hazardous recycling of found unexploded ordnance.
