Ukraine has reportedly added a drone-fighting LSA to its fleet of warplanes. In a report from the Paris Air Show, YouTuber Ate Chuet says the ULM Shark, a speedy light aircraft made in the Czech Republic, has been equipped with drone detection and jamming gear to fight against the Russian drones that have become one of the biggest threats in the current conflict. The Shark can reach speeds of more than 160 knots behind either a Rotax 912 ULS or 914 engine. It can also loiter for as long as 12 hours.
The electronic warfare version has an exterior pod that carries the drone buster. Some of the components pick up signals from the Russian attack drones and the others jam the GPS and the video and control frequencies. The plane can disable drones within a three-mile radius. The plane has a ballistic parachute and also comes with an oxygen generator that allows operations as high as 18,000 feet.
Not sure what Rotax is in the Shark that Ukraine is buying, but Rotax doesn’t make a fuel-injected (is) 914 engine. Maybe a 100hp 912is, a 141hp 915is or a 160hp 916is.
Ukraine is not buying and cannot buy anything. The US taxpayer pays for everything Ukraine attempts to acquire. Ukraine is militarily defeated on the verge of total collapse. Ukraine does not have a fleet of anything let alone a "fleet " of aircraft.
I am sure there are a lot of EU LSA aircraft being considered by EU/NATO countries for potential anti-drone mods, considering their penchant for war with Russia. But drone warfare is evolving at an incredible rate, far faster than any manned aircraft civilian or military could possibly maintain let alone surpass.
Who will fly a 1500-2000lb composite/carbon fiber LSA with little to no protection against a modern military drone remains to be seen. To me it appears suicidal… payed for by the hardworking US taxpayer. But like Lindsey Graham has repeatedly said, as long as someone else dies other than Americans, the US is getting a bargain for our unaccounted and uncountable bucks fresh off the printing press and so far, endlessly being sent overseas.
Ukraine is already using an LSA as a drone as an offensive weapon and has tried to modify it against drone attacks. Not working out well at all in either case. We have paid for that debacle too.
How is the weather in St Petersburg today, comrade?
You seem to have a single notion of what a military drone is like.
The US is far from the only backer of Ukraine. They have been supported by donations and loans from the EU, the UK, most NATO countries, including Canada. They’ve been given loans, iterest on Russian assets that have been seized and they still have their own internal economy and income from exports. Thats why the ports around Odessa and it’s safe route for shipping through the Black Sea are so important.