“Benshi is flying to the rear: Ukraine uses British kamikaze drones (video)
Back in early 2023, the United Kingdom selected the best long-range kamikaze drone for Ukraine, taking into account the real conditions of the battlefield, objectives and the significant need for a
The first videos confirming that Ukraine is using QinetiQ’s Banshee Jet 80+ jet drones to strike the enemy have been posted online.
Although London’s intention to transfer long-range kamikaze drones was officially announced in May 23, there were no specifics on the type of UAVs. But now we are definitely talking about the Banshee Jet 80, which, according to the racists, is equipped with a 7 kg warhead.
British-supplied Ukrainian QinetiQ Banshee Jet 80+ UAV is shot down by Russian forces.
The UAV is designed to be used as an aerial target and has an operational range of more than 100 km.
The Russians claim that the UAV was carrying a warhead with explosives weighing 7 kg. pic.twitter.com/eemsdx9tWW
– Clash Report (@clashreport) February 19, 2024
Moreover, London has announced plans to transfer hundreds of such strike UAVs, and the number “35” is visible on the fuselage of this one, which may indicate that this is only the beginning of their use.
The Russian Federation reports that the drone was neutralized in the area of occupied Novoazovsk in Donetsk region, close to the border with Russia, which is about 90 km from the current front line.
For the Banshee Jet 80+, this range is well within its capabilities, as the operating range for this drone in the target version is defined as more than 100 km. However, when it came to plans for British drones, officials claimed a range of up to 200 kilometers.
As a result, the Banshee Jet 80+ has a flight time of more than 45 minutes with a mixed flight profile and a speed range of 180 km/h to 720 km/h. In other words, it is quite possible that the drone can fly exactly over 100 km at cruising speed in one direction, and it is quite possible that 200 km is not the limit for it.
But we are talking about converting the drone, because the original Banshee Jet 80+ is only a target drone for training air defense teams and pilots. And it is quite possible that some specifications have changed due to the need to carry a combat unit. Although there have been speculations that London will be handing over just such a drone for quite some time.
In particular, the idea to transfer long-range drones to Ukraine began to be implemented in early 2023, when the first proposals began to appear within the framework of a program to develop various types of drones that could be used by Ukraine in the war against Russia, initiated by the British Defense Ministry. And the Banshee Jet 80 option was considered one of the most likely back then.
After all, we were talking about hundreds of such drones back then, which required cheap and mass production, and the choice to convert the target drone was quite pragmatic.
