One of Ukraine's most successful developments is the long-range UAV "Liutyi", which accounts for about 80% of all hits on Russian refineries.
What is known about the history of the development and testing of "Liutyi"
The publication notes that the first developments of "Liutyi" had problems with the front landing gear and compass calibration.
During the launches, the operators had to accompany the UAVs in cars, exposing themselves to real danger.
Therefore, the operator had to constantly push the first boards so that they went evenly along the runway. And this means that you have to drive a car at a speed of up to 150 km/h behind this 50-kilogram bomb so that the operator can see it and be able to level it on the lane. It is clear that no one wanted to launch it like that, one of the developers told the journalists of the publication.
According to him, there was no such problem on the day since the UAV is enormous — more than 4 meters long and almost 7 meters in wingspan.
However, he had to be accompanied at night.
Guaranteed damage by shrapnel from "Liutyi" is about 400-500 meters. Therefore, we did not even put on bulletproof vests, they would not have saved us, notes one of the participants of the first launches.
Its first use was carried out on August 28 — the Special Operations Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces struck various UAVs at the base of the 126th Coast Guard Brigade of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in the Crimea in Perevalne.
The first actual launches of "Liutyi" began at the end of September 2023.
One of the sections of the track in the Chernihiv region, which was once used as an airfield, was chosen for the first launch.
The planes were new and had 50 kilograms of warheads—it was important that they at least fly across the border.
At that time, no one understood how much these first examples could be driven on the track, they rolled onto the side of the road. And the roads are designed so that water flows from the road to the roadsides. That is, there is a slight slope. And this tilt is enough to make the navigation go a little crazy, recalls one of the participants in the first combat launch of the drone.
What is known about the combat successes of "Liutyi"
The first launch in Russia was delayed.
One aborted takeoff. We turn around and go to the starting point. The second start—again, demolishing the drone. Another aborted takeoff. It's like being the first astronaut: it's hard not because it's impossible, but because there's no one to ask how to do it right.
But we wanted so much to fly and hit Muscovites that we sat down for the third time: the plane took off and flew. And then the flight arrived, and not anywhere, but to the oil depot near the airfield in Sochi. And this was the only airbase that worked for the Russians on the Black Sea at that time. It was a triumph, recalls the participant of the launch.
The second flight occurred ten days later, on October 1, and again to the Sochi area. This time, the "Lyutoy" was hit by a parking lot of helicopters that mainly served the Putin residence.
We hit their helipad, cut down several helicopters. But at first we did not know that Putin had met with Tokayev there the day before. Putin was 12 kilometers away from the place where the second "Liutyi" flew. It was later confirmed to us, notes the interlocutor of the publication from the Ukrainian intelligence services.
However, as noted in the publication, as of May 2024, "Liutyi" was adopted by special services, intelligence, and the Ukrainian Air Force.
Such massive production and operation of drones made it possible to start planning large-scale joint operations, in which several structures are involved at once.
The loudest joint operations of several services immediately became the attacks on the Novolypetsk Metallurgical Plant, oil refineries in Ryazan, Nizhny Novgorod, and Tatarstan. Attacks on Ryazan objects became one of the hallmarks of "Liutyi". After all, it is there during daytime flights that several drones in a row hit the same place with surgical precision, bringing the most expensive nodes of the refinery out of order, the material emphasises.
