A pilot of the Separate Presidential Brigade named after Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky, with the call sign “Joker,” devised a way to mount a captured assault rifle under a heavy drone and conduct remote fire directly from the air. The brigade reported this on August 11.
According to “Joker,” the unit received a heavy drone called “Queen of Hornets” from volunteers and began looking for a reliable way to secure a weapon under the fuselage. The solution came from his experience working with computers: the pilot recalled the neodymium magnet that remains inside a hard drive after disassembly. A fellow soldier had a small but powerful magnet — and the very first test showed that the structure could lift the assault rifle.
A captured AK with a 45-round magazine was secured to the magnet using rope and tape, while the trigger was connected to a remote electronic mechanism.
The soldiers say the main value of the solution is not firing accuracy, but the psychological pressure it puts on the enemy. A drone that approaches at close range and opens fire with an assault rifle forces the occupiers to flee their positions. After the first tests with the assault rifle, the unit began experimenting with heavier weaponry — including grenade launchers — and, according to the pilot, during one of the combat sorties they were able to confirm at least one eliminated occupier.
Similar solutions are emerging in other units as well. The volunteer association “Bulava,” for example, has publicly described mounting a grenade launcher on a drone to provide infantry cover.