The ancient, terrifying myth of the winged dragon has come to life. In a video of the weapon's first use on September 2 in the Zaporizhzhia region of southeastern Ukraine, an incandescent substance is seen spewing forth from an invisible point in the sky, falling on the left end of a thicket of trees. Still invisible, the source of the flame flies at low speed over the row of trees, skimming the canopy and continuing to eject what ultimately appears to be lava. The trees don't burst into flames despite the infernal rain. Nonetheless, a fiery trail lingers on the ground after the mysterious weapon flies off. Toward the middle of the row of trees, on the ground, an explosion throws flaming debris dozens of meters. A Russian ammunition depot had likely been hit.
The scene was filmed by drone and published on the Ukrainian Telegram channel No Chance. What is seen in this first online appearance of the "dragon drone" is not a test but a real combat mission. The brief text accompanying the video refers to "burning Russkies under greenery. The dragon drone works well. Mission of the FPV unit 'Rubpak' of the 108th separate brigade of the territorial defense forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine."
The Ukrainian open-source intelligence group CyberBoroshno identified the exact location of the attack as being 23 kilometers east of the city of Orikhiv, in the Zaporizhzhia region. The thicket of trees is located in an area under Russian control, 3 kilometers behind the front line. Information has suggested that the drone's range is probably greater than 5 kilometers, as drone pilots, who are priority targets for their adversaries, rarely operate in the immediate vicinity of the front line.
Military analysts and commentators agree that the incendiary substance discharged by the drone is thermite. This is a chemical mixture of the metal aluminum and the oxide of another metal that produces heat of up to 2,200°C. Its military use dates back to the Second World War, and it is widely available in the arsenals of former Communist bloc countries.
A video obtained by Le Monde shows how, through a relatively simple DIY process, the thermite is attached to the underside of the quad-rotor drone configuration, complete with firing mechanism. This suggests that the Russian adversary should be able to copy this weapon quickly.
It represents a transformation of the single-use FPV drone. Reported users of the thermite drone are the Perun drone unit of the 42nd Separate Mechanized Brigade and the Khorne group, the drone unit of the 60th Mechanized Brigade. Clearly irritated that fellow Ukrainians had spilled the beans, the Khorne group nonetheless posted its own video, accompanied by a message encouraging donations: "We are opposed to the publication of videos of new technology. But since it's already been done, we're sharing our video of burning orcs [the name given to Russian soldiers] with thermite ammunition." The message ends with bank information.
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