Russia started manufacturing the Gastello kamikaze drone, designed according to lessons from the war in Ukraine. A production of 5,000 units per month is expected.
According to RIA Novosti news agency, Russian military forces deployed on the Ukrainian front will soon start receiving a large number of quadcopter-type suicide drones, called Gastello, whose capabilities meet the needs expressed by Russian drone operators.
“The new Russian FPV (First Person View) drone has been developed taking into account the wishes of drone operators working in the CBO (Special Military Operation) area. In particular, the quadcopter will have the capability of night flight and application in the dark. The design capacity of the new production is five thousand units per month,” said the engineer interviewed to the news agency.
The lack of an adequate amount of night vision equipment and infrared cameras is a problem that has been plaguing the Russian forces since the beginning of the invasion, which were at a disadvantage against the better equipped Ukrainian troops during nighttime hours. The mass adoption of drones with infrared cameras would help alleviate this situation for Moscow’s troops.
According to the interviewee, the drones assembled on the new assembly line are made of 30% Russian-made components, in particular, frames and carbon structure. However, as the months go by, the amount of Russian components in Gastello drones will increase to 95%.
See also: Russia readies next-generation Lancet suicide drones for use in Ukraine
The drone operates on the principle of First Person View (FPV): the controlling operator can view the image from the video camera using a monitor, video headset or video glasses.
The choice of name is not accidental
The drone was named in honor of the pilot, posthumous Soviet Union hero, Nikolai Gastello. When Germany attacked the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, Gastello was a squadron leader in a long-range bomber regiment equipped with Ilyushin DB-3 medium bombers.
On June 26, five days after the start of the war, a pair of aircraft led by Gastello bombed a German position near the village of Dekshany in Belarus. Gastello’s bomber was apparently hit by anti-aircraft artillery, piercing the wing’s fuel tank and leaving the plane engulfed in flames. Unable to return to base or save the aircraft, Gastello deliberately directed his wrecked plane against a German panzer column to cause as much damage as possible with his sacrifice.
