Enemy drones are usually hit by MANPADS or heavy machine guns, which are capable of shooting down air targets at a distance of more than two kilometers.
Ukrainian defenders are on round-the-clock combat duty to protect the sky from Iranian drones. In order to effectively destroy the “Shaheds”, mobile air defense groups were organized, which include a driver, machine gunner or MANPADS operator and other crew members. The work of such mobile groups to protect the Ukrainian sky is stated in the press service of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine dated March 14.
The message says that mobile groups must be constantly on alert in order to get to the right position at the right time and complete the combat mission. As a rule, such a group is armed with a DShK heavy machine gun, which is capable of effectively hitting air targets at a distance of more than two kilometers.
“The Joker machine gunner is capable of operating his DShK both day and night. A 12.7 mm machine gun with an effective range of hitting air targets of up to 2.4 km serves as a weapon to destroy the Shaheds, with which the Russians attack the capital on a weekly basis,” the message says.
The press service added that this crew not only has the ability to repel Iranian drone attacks, but also has experience in “landing” enemy UAVs.
It is noted that in addition to the ability to use weapons against drones, the mobile group is also able to continuously monitor the situation in the airspace and provide relevant information. Thus, fire groups not only perform combat missions, but also increase the overall effectiveness of Ukrainian air defense systems, which identify and destroy enemy air targets.
Recall that on March 6, Ukrainian soldiers shot down 13 Shahed-131/136 kamikaze drones out of 15 launched from the Bryansk region. According to the Air Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, all drones flying towards the Kyiv region were destroyed.
Brigadier General of Justice Serhiy Melnyk said on March 13 that in the Kharkiv region, the Ukrainian military shot down a homemade Russian UAV that carried a charge for a hand-held anti-tank grenade launcher. The general joked that this is what “import substitution” looks like in Russia.
