The Hero of Ukraine charity fund supports the military, in particular the Backfire project – from a prototype to a ready-made UAV, which successfully performs combat tasks at the front. State support in the form of state orders is required for better application and serial production of the Bekfire K1 UAV.
In September 2023, the commission of the Ministry of Defense approved one of the promising Ukrainian projects – the Bekfire UAV – for use in the Defense Forces. It was independently developed and produced by a group of Mykolaiv enthusiasts led by the founder of the Hero of Ukraine charity fund, commander of the joint strike unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) unit of the Navy of Ukraine, Ilya Shpolyanskyi.
Despite the fact that the drone has proven itself effectively on the battlefield, it has not yet received government funding.
750 THOUSAND DOLLARS OF CHARITY FUNDS COLLECTED FOR THE DRONE
The mass use of drones on the battlefield has radically changed the picture of modern warfare. Ground combat is increasingly turning into confrontation with unmanned systems based on the latest electronic technologies. A few drones can destroy or disable military equipment worth millions of dollars. At the same time, the lives of soldiers are preserved. UAVs are especially useful in conditions of “missile starvation”.
The mass use of drones on the battlefield has radically changed the picture of modern warfare. Ground combat is increasingly turning into confrontation with unmanned systems based on the latest electronic technologies. A few drones can destroy or disable military equipment worth millions of dollars. At the same time, the lives of soldiers are preserved. UAVs are especially useful in conditions of “missile starvation”.
“750,000 dollars received from benefactors have already been used for the development, production, combat use and improvement of the Backfire unmanned system. Various people from almost all corners of Ukraine help our project. Everyone will contribute as much as they can: the smallest contribution is a few hryvnias, the largest is 20,000 dollars. Due to the lack of government funding, we are forced to advertise our UAV, although, by and large, we should have made public information about it only after our victory. But this is the only way we can raise money for the production and further improvement of Backfire. By the way, the main income comes from business representatives. And if the business believes in the prospects of such a device, it means that we are on the right track. Our website has a report for every hryvnia spent, so everything is completely transparent,” says Ilya Shpolianskiy.
According to experts, today on the battlefield there is a competition of UAVs and means of radio-electronic warfare (EW). With this in mind, “Backfire” has an undeniable advantage. So, currently the enemy has concentrated a huge number of EW stations on the front line, which are trying to influence the electronics of the drone. And one of the most widespread and effective ways is to interrupt the communication between the drone and the operator who controls it, because then the drone becomes helpless and simply falls. “Backfire” does not have such a connection, that is, there is nothing to interrupt, therefore it is almost impossible to jam this UAV. This is one of its significant advantages.
According to I. Shpolyanskyi, from the very beginning his team “Angry birds” chose such a UAV concept, according to which the entire flight program is entered into the on-board computer even before the start.
Also, the drone has small dimensions and a specific aircraft-type design, which makes it inconspicuous for enemy radar stations. And if you take into account that the device is equipped with a low-noise electric motor, which is powered by a battery, it becomes clear how difficult it is to counteract the enemy “Backfire”.
The combat radius of this drone is 35 kilometers, the speed is up to 130 km/h. The combat weight is 3.6 kg, as a rule, these are two bombs of 1.8 kg each.
Having overcome a distance of tens of kilometers, “Backfire” hits the target, among which, in addition to manpower, there are also unarmored and lightly armored vehicles of the Russians, command posts, logistics bases, as well as various buildings where ammunition depots, communication nodes, teams of enemy drone operators. For example, there are several artillery systems among the destroyed weapons.
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“BACKFIRE” AGAINST A THIEFJOHO “PANTSIRYA”: SCORE 1:0
“Over the past six months, Backfire has carried out more than 150 bomb attacks. The quality of the aircraft, the accuracy of hits, and the interaction with intelligence have significantly improved. Thus, on one of the areas of the southern front, “Backfire” destroyed the enemy’s self-propelled anti-aircraft missile system “Pantsir-S1” with a direct hit, says Shpolianskiy.
It should be noted that this ZRGK is intended “for close coverage of military objects from all modern and promising means of air attack.” At one time, Kremlin TV channels openly boasted that their Pantsir-S1, which had “no analogues”, easily shot down a UAV in the sky of Syria. But, as it turned out, our “Evil Birds” can “spell” him too.
And “Backfire” has already worked out the tactics of carpet bombing: 18 VOG grenades were simultaneously dropped on a target located in a certain area – these are fragmentation ammunition from an underbarrel grenade launcher.
“Despite the fact that our drone was approved for use by the Defense Forces of Ukraine, we have not yet received any government support for this project and are forced to produce and use the product on our own. The bureaucratic machine works extremely slowly and not transparently,” says I. Shpolyanskyi.
It is also worth adding that “Backfire” is not a kamikaze drone, it is designed for multiple use. But in war, any combat drone is expendable, and if one instance makes 20 sorties, then this is considered a very good result. Next, it should, at a minimum, undergo maintenance. And for this, and, even more so, for the production of new devices, considerable funds are needed.
According to I. Shpolyanskyi, although the situation with UAVs in the Armed Forces is changing for the better, it still does not keep up with the changes at the front. As a result, the Russians have an advantage in the use of drones, in particular, due to the fact that they are quickly scaled. Immediate steps must be taken to equalize parity and gain a significant advantage.
“The creation of unmanned systems as part of the Armed Forces is undoubtedly the right step. Although it should have been done much earlier. So the results should be expected in six months,” says the commander of the UAV attack unit.
He also supports the initiative to assemble drones at home. “Thus, we attract new members and activists to this process. Today, a person assembles a drone in the kitchen, and tomorrow he already serves as a UAV operator or works in the system production of unmanned systems,” said the serviceman.
In addition, in his opinion, there are now enough schools that are engaged in the training of personnel for drones. However, there are questions about the quality and financing of this process. The state still pays little attention to these problems, which is unacceptable in the current conditions.
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According to the materials ukrinform
Photo and video – from the archive of the “Angry Birds” team
