The Ukrainian Armed Forces have mysterious ADM-160 MALD jet drones from the United States to be launched from aircraft
At least two important things are unknown about these drones – when they were transferred and from which aircraft they are launched
Russian invaders found the wreckage of an unmanned aerial vehicle called ADM-160 MALD in the temporarily occupied part of Kherson region. Such drones are at the disposal of the Ukrainian Defense Forces, are to be launched from aircraft and play the role of “decoys” to overload the enemy air defense system.
But it is interesting that this is only the second confirmation in open sources with photos that our military uses ADM-160 MALD in strikes on racist military targets. The first mention dates back to May 2023, just when it became known that the British Storm Shadow cruise missiles had been deployed in the Armed Forces.
⚡️The fallen 🇺🇸American decoy missile AGM-160 MALD, probably in the Kherson region.
They are used at the same time as SS/SCALP-EG, but the carrier aircraft is still unknown, as well as the number received by 🇺🇦Ukraine pic.twitter.com/3kZ7hrXPOn
– 🇺🇦Ukrainian Front (@front_ukrainian) December 1, 2023
In more detail, the ADM-160 MALD is a miniature jet drone designed to simulate cruise missiles or other air targets during a breakthrough of enemy air defense. This drone has a body length of just 2.38 meters, a wingspan of 0.65 meters, and a launch weight of just 45 kilograms.
But with such miniature dimensions, the ADM-160 MALD can fly at a range of 460 kilometers to 570 kilometers, depending on the modification, and has enough onboard equipment to simulate radar reflections as if it were a “real” cruise missile.
The miniaturization of such drones allows four ADM-160 MALD units to be mounted on the same F-16, up to 12 units on the A-10 attack aircraft, and up to 16 units on the B-52.
The very fact that the Ukrainian Defense Forces have American ADM-160 MALD decoy drones remains a complete secret. The United States has not announced the transfer of such drones to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and it is still unknown what type of aircraft (or aircraft) in the Air Force can carry them.
Here we can only recall that the first use of ADM-160 MALD by our military was recorded in May 2023. It was during the period when the use of Storm Shadow cruise missiles began to strike the infrastructure of the Russian occupiers.
