Ukrainian Drones Destroy 2 More Russian SAMs Near Sumy

Ukraine has been concentrating on eliminating Russian Surface-to-Air (SAM) missile launchers in order to improve its ability to strike strategic Russian targets. 

That these were in Sumy, near Kharkiv, underscores the intensity of the fighting there, especially as Kharkiv is reported to be one of Russia's primary objectives for its next offensive. JL 

Militarnyi reports:

Operators of attack drones of the Ukrainian Special Operations Forces (SOF) detected and destroyed two Russian Buk-M1 launchers in the Sumy sector. The SAM vehicle was tracked by the Shark reconnaissance drone and was struck by other attack drones. The drones used by the SOF to carry out the strikes have a conventional aerodynamic design with a tail fin similar to a V-shape.According to the description of their appearance, these could be Polish Warmate drones or Ukrainian RAM II drones.

Operators of attack drones of the Ukrainian Special Operations Forces (SOF) detected and destroyed two Russian Buk-M1 launchers in the Sumy region sector.

The press service of the SOF reported on this.

Operators of a unit of the Special Operations Forces discovered a Buk anti-aircraft missile system in the Sumy sector during reconnaissance operations. The 9A310M1 launcher was in a firing position.

 

The SAM vehicle was tracked by the Shark reconnaissance drone and was struck by other attack drones of an unspecified model.

 

As a result of the strike, the vehicle was apparently damaged and immobilized, but not destroyed. Therefore, another 9A310M1 self-propelled launcher was sent to evacuate it.

The vehicle that came to tow the damaged vehicle was also hit by an attack drone of the SOF unit.

The unnamed drones used by the SOF to carry out the strikes have a conventional aerodynamic design with a tail fin similar to a V-shape.According to the description of their appearance, these could be Polish Warmate drones or Ukrainian RAM II drones.

Russian Buk-M1 air defense system launcher moments before impact, April 2024. Photo credits: Special Operations Forces

In April 2024, the Ukrainian Defense Forces reported the destruction of a Buk-M2 launcher, a transport and launch vehicle, and a radar station, three Buk-M1 launchers, and two other launchers of an unknown model that were hit.

It is worth noting that attack drones are increasingly playing a role in the predominant ratio of systems destroyed by HIMARS rocket systems.

 

The change in the ratio is a result of the active development of the Ukrainian defense industry and unmanned systems. In particular, this month, Ukraine presented a model of loitering munition that can strike targets at an operational and tactical depth of 100+ kilometers.