Videos released by the Ukrainian military show several drone attacks on Russian tanks. One of them seriously damaged one of the rare BMPT Terminator armored vehicles.
Modified tourist drones continue to wreak havoc on the front lines in Ukraine. Ukrainian soldiers first broadcast on August 11, 2023 the video of a kamikaze drone attack against a Russian T-90 tank. Footage shot by the 80th Air Assault Brigade shows the tank being chased by aircraft. A wrong maneuver by the tanker drives the armored vehicle directly into a ravine. The Ukrainian soldiers take advantage of this to launch a drone to which an anti-tank grenade is attached and destroy the tank.
According to the specialized account WarMonitor on X (formerly Twitter), the destruction of the T-90 took place south of Klishchiivka in Donetsk, near Bakhmut.
This video illustrates the impact that modified commercial drones can still have against tanks produced in the 90s and 2000s in Russia. The device in question is an FPV model with a first-person view of the flight from a helmet for the pilot. The Chinese brand DJI, market leader, sells them for around 800 euros, other manufacturers offer their FPV model for 500 euros on Alibaba. A T-90 tank would cost between 2 and 4 million euros.
The second damaged Terminator
On August 12, the Ukrainian military releases another FPV drone attack video, this time against a BMPT Terminator armored vehicle. This “tank” was specially designed to accompany and protect other armored vehicles on the battlefield. It is not a tank, but a versatile machine, suitable for battles in urban terrain for example.
The footage was shot in the Donetsk region as well. The “Terminator” is harassed by several FPV drones and ends up being damaged. A Russian T-80 tank then comes to tow it before being in turn attacked by a Ukrainian device.
If this “Terminator” can no longer return to the front, it would then be the second model destroyed by the Ukrainian army. The first was wiped out last February. Russia had about ten Terminator BMPTs at the start of its total invasion in 2022.
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