Foreign Affairs

TexasTowelie

(122,443 posts) Wed Aug 6, 2025, 05:10 PM Aug 6

Incredible Air Assault! Ukrainians Use First in the World FPV Drones With RPGs! - RFU News

Today, there is interesting news from the Lyman direction.

Here, the Russians decided to attack from another vector and break the Ukrainian deadlock near Torske but were surprised by the latest Ukrainian innovation in drone warfare. By mounting RPG’s on drones, the Ukrainians found a way to make their air assaults even deadlier.

Near Lyman, the Ukrainian 63rd Mechanized Brigade remains firmly in control, effectively anchoring the defense at Torske through innovative defensive measures combined with preventive attacks against advancing Russian forces. This Ukrainian formation not only maintains entrenched positions but also proactively disrupts enemy movements, refusing to allow the Russians a chance to stabilize their positions. A striking footage captures two Ukrainian infantrymen clearing a forest near a settlement, encountering Russian troops hiding in a dugout. After intense close-range combat with grenades and gunfire, the cornered Russians chose to surrender and were taken prisoners of war.

Facing staggering casualties, the Russians recognized the danger of continuing frontal assaults against the fiercely defended Ukrainian positions around Torske. As a result, they attempted a new tactic, intensifying operations southwards across the Zherebets River, hoping to outflank and encircle the Ukrainians from behind. However, previous Russian vulnerabilities remain unchanged: troops must cross exposed terrain under constant Ukrainian drone surveillance, FPV drone strikes, and precise artillery fire. Every movement makes them easily spottable targets that the Ukrainians engage without hesitation.

Aware of their limited infantry numbers, Ukrainian forces increasingly implement the Drone Line initiative to neutralize Russian assault groups before they approach their defenses. Drone operators in this program receive points for eliminating priority targets such as infantry and enemy drone teams, which they can then exchange for large quantities of upgraded equipment, incentivizing aggressive hunting of Russian troops and dramatically boosting effectiveness. Numerous videos from the frontline near Torske illustrate this vividly, showing Russian infantry eliminated by precision grenade drops from Mavic and Vampire drones.

In addition, Ukrainians have recently begun employing RPG equipped drones to devastating effect. While traditional drone-dropped grenades are often spotted and engaged by the Russians, which forces operators into dive-bomb tactics that usually compromise accuracy, grenade-launcher drones offer a solution through stabilized aiming via a crosshair. One notable video displays a Ukrainian operator identifying several Russian soldiers, firing a precise grenade launcher round from the drone, repositioning swiftly, and firing again from another angle to eliminate the survivors. Such innovations allow even single operators to decisively repel entire Russian assaults even when severely stretched infantry-wise.

Ukrainian soldiers praised the new technology by stating that, logically, a drone equipped with a grenade launcher can fly in, fire, turn around, and reload, making it highly effective. Ukrainian operators emphasized the key tactical advantage that grenade rounds arrive almost instantly, and the enemy can’t dodge them, which means more accurate hits. At the same time, it can strike from farther away and face fewer electronic warfare countermeasures. Another operator explained that infantry is used to drones hovering overhead to drop grenades, so they can time their movement around the drone’s range or shoot it down directly. But if the drone instead starts shooting at them mid-flight, it drastically shortens the window of opportunity to move out of the way or shoot it down. Effectively, these new drones can disrupt each assault by forcing Russian troops to seek cover immediately upon hearing drone sounds, especially given modern grenade launchers' variety of potent warheads that can be used, with armor-piercing, thermobaric, and even incendiary ones.

Overall, Ukrainian forces near Lyman continue to adapt rapidly, refining drone warfare tactics to overcome their limited infantry and decisively halt Russian advances. Russia’s attempted shift in strategy at Torske, seeking new vectors of attack, failed dramatically due to relentless Ukrainian drone strikes, precise grenade drops, and innovative grenade-launcher drones. These advanced tactics have not only stabilized the defense line but also ensured Russian offensives remain costly and ultimately ineffective.