NOWA DĘBA, Poland - The interceptor drone darted across the sky, screaming toward its target, a hostile drone. Missing, it looped around for another try. The air battle, reminiscent of old-school dogfights, ended without a kill. The "Surveyor" interceptor drone dropped out of the fight, parachuting to the ground, while the enemy threat, a replica of Russia's infamous Shaheds, continued to fly.
The new FZ123 warhead is filled with thousands of tiny steel pellets blasted out by two pounds of high-explosive material. When the warhead detonates, the pellets burst out in an area of about 80 feet in diameter to take down a drone or drone swarm, much like the way birdshot spreads from a shotgun shell. Depending on how far the rocket has been flying, the steel balls can be spread even wider.
The air raid sirens screamed first, their wail cutting through the nighttime hush, keening danger. Then came the low whine of drones. Over cities of sleeping people, the Iranian-designed Shahed drones swarmed, their dark bellies crammed with explosives. At their approach, Ukraine's air defenses fired up, a stream of bullets disappearing into the stars, rat-tat-tat, followed by the bang of explosions. But still the drones came, too many to shoot down.
Overnight two drones entered Polish airspace, they were not shot down as the posed no danger, the Armed Forces Operational Commander Maciej Klisz said on Thursday. Poland's General Staff Chief Wieslaw Kukula said the drones then left Polish airspace and caused no damage. Overnight Russia launched another deadly attack in western and central Ukraine which saw the two drones enter Poland's territory.
Russia has launched a drone and missile attack on Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, including a rare hit on the city centre, killing at least eight people and wounding dozens of others, authorities said. Powerful explosions illuminated the predawn sky on Thursday, leaving columns of smoke as Russian projectiles damaged buildings across multiple districts in the Ukrainian capital. The assault marked the first major combined attack on Kyiv in weeks, occurring as United States-led peace initiatives struggle to gain momentum in the three-year conflict.
In a corn field, we found burnt objects of various sizes , scattered within a radius of several dozen metres. These are burnt metal and plastic fragments.
