Ukraine’s World War I-style air fighters shot down more Russian drones

Ukraine’s strangest drone killers are back in action with their 50-year-old propeller training plane, adding two more aerial kills to their already impressive record in just a matter of days.

A video clip of a Russian unmanned aerial vehicle posted online on Saturday appears to show two Ukrainian pilots staring at their latest target – the drone itself – from the open cockpit of their 1970s-era Yakovlev Yak-52 training aircraft. The Yak-52 and the Russian drone are just a few meters apart.

It appears that the passenger in the back seat of the Yakovlev plane – who is reportedly carrying a drone-destroying shotgun – is aiming something at the drone. Possibly the shotgun that made him famous.

Earlier this month, a Russian blogger complained that the Yak-52 crew was “firing at our drones as if it were a shooting gallery.” Others compared the kills to a World War I dogfight.

In mid-April, videos circulated online showing the 193-kilometer-per-hour Yak-52 – apparently owned by a Ukrainian volunteer flying club but clearly fighting on behalf of the Ukrainian Air Force – attacking – and reportedly shooting down – a Russian Orlan surveillance drone over the Kherson region of southern Ukraine.

Six weeks later, in early June, a similar video – this time taken by the Russians – surfaced online. It shows the Yak-52 fighting with a Russian ZALA surveillance drone. In this video, the gunman in the back seat can be seen reaching for something, possibly his weapon.

Photos that briefly appeared on social media on Tuesday show the kill markings on the side of the Propeller-Yakovlev: at least six Orlan and two ZALA drones. Other markings are unclear.

Saturday’s video appears to show another pair of kill markers, meaning Ukrainian drone hunters have had a busy week.

When the first videos of the dogfight between the Yak-52 and a drone appeared on social media, some observers speculated that the crew of the one-ton training aircraft had fired at the drones with underwing cannons or missile pods.

But as Italian aviation expert David Cenciotti noted, very few Yak-52s were modified to carry underwing weapons, so it should have been no surprise when it turned out that the Ukrainians were firing a shotgun from the rear seat of the plane.

While the Ukrainian Air Force tries to save its most expensive surface-to-air missiles for the most dangerous Russian targets – ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as manned fighter-bombers that drop powerful glide bombs – a guy with a shotgun in a slow propeller plane is a cost-effective way to shoot down invading Russian drones far from the front line.

But that doesn’t mean it’s easy for the Ukrainians. Both the Yak-52 pilot and the gunner in the back seat need to be skilled and patient to get a clean shot at a small drone.

This, too, is not unlike a World War I dogfight. After one of the very first aircraft-to-aircraft engagements, Royal Flying Corps observer Archibald James admitted to opening fire on a German pilot from too far away. “I aimed the service rifle at 550 yards and fired six shots with precision. I was unhappy that I did not appear to have hit him at all,” he wrote.

“I’m sure I was miles away,” James added. “We had no idea back then how far you had to shoot to have any effect.”

If the Ukrainian crew of this Yak-52 went through a similar learning process, it happened months ago. In all recent air battles, the Yakovlev pilot apparently maneuvered to within a few meters of his target before the man behind opened fire.

1. Special Cherson cat: https://x.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1807026267947946185

2. David Cenciotti: https://theaviationist.com/2024/06/09/view-from-the-target-russian-drone-captures-ukrainian-yak-52-drone-hunter/

3. Imperial War Museum: https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/voices-of-the-first-world-war-war-in-the-air