This video captures the moment a Russian Shahed-136 kamikaze drone is shot down by a gunner on board a Ukrainian “anti-drone” Yak-52 over the southern sector of the front.
Light piston aircraft like the Yak-52 have already been used multiple times to hunt Russian UAVs. Since the Yak-52 has no built-in machine guns, the role of the shooter is taken on by a soldier sitting in the instructor’s seat, with the canopy open, firing directly at the drone in flight.
A low-tech platform, a high-risk mission – and one less Shahed in the sky.