Light Sport Drones Strike 800 Miles Inside Russia

Ukraine has extended the reach of its Light Sport drone program, this time striking 800 miles inside Russia to damage an oil refinery. The Aeroprakt A-22 completed the mission on May 9, and it would appear the program has expanded to include another homegrown design, the Aerosar Nynja. According to Forbes, Friday's attack was Ukraine's deepest so far and it likely won't be the last. It damaged the cracking unit at the refinery, which is one of Russia's largest.

More details are also coming out about how the aircraft, which retail for less than $100,000, are outfitted to become such a symbolically potent weapon. Simple computers are linked to servos to manipulate the existing controls. Satellite radios stream video from cheap cameras and transmit the control inputs from the remote operator, Forbes reported.