Despite signing a ceasefire agreement in northern Idlib province with Turkey in March, Russia continues to test new weapons by targeting civilians in the rebel-held region.
Our sources confirmed that two weeks ago, Russia began testing KYB-UAV “kamikaze drones”. A week ago, a drone targeted a civilian vehicles transporting a group of olive farmers near the town of Nahlia, in western Idlib, wounding three civilians.
The KYB-UAV drone payload is 3 kg, equipped with POM-2 anti-personnel landmines that was used two weeks ago against olive harvest workers in northern Idlib killing a civilian and wounding 5 others, according to a Civil Defense statement.
After the POM-2 mine is dropped to the ground, 6 rows of square preformed fragments connected with thin metal wires that act as sensors are launched, thus activating the countdown and the combat mode. The mine will explode if any of the wire that reach up to 9.5 meters, are touched.
The KYB-UAV “suicide drone” is an unmanned airborne system manufactured by Kalashnikov Concern and was unveiled at the International Defense Exhibition IDEX 2019. The drone is designed for defeating remote ground targets by delivering special load to the manually set target coordinates or to the image from the guidance target load.
The KYB-UAV has the ability to fly for a period of 30 minutes, its operating range is 7 kilometers, its payload is 3 kilograms, the typical flight speed is 80 kilometers per hour, and its top speed is 130 kilometers per hour.
Russia had used an Israeli-manufactured HERO_30 suicide drone months ago, however, it is likely that it used a cloned drone similar to Israel’s but manufactured by China, called the S-570, which was unveiled at Chinese defense exhibition in 2019.
Russia has previously used this drone over five times, the most recent of which was launched on Watad Petroleum in northern Idlib on July 18. The attack caused damage to several fuel tanks, but not casualties have been reported.
The drone’s range is between 5-250 km, and they can be launched from bombers, fighter jets, and even reconnaissance aircrafts.
Zaman Al Wasl
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