How racing drones are used as improvised missiles in Ukraine

DRONES HAVE become a ubiquitous part of the war in Ukraine. Both sides use consumer quadcopters to track the enemy and drop grenades. Russia has used Iranian Shahed-136 drones to torment Ukrainian cities. In February Russia detected Ukranian drones deep in its territory. More recently Ukraine has been converting devices designed for the sport of drone-racing into small loitering munitions. Last year its forces released a video of a racing drone diving through an open doorway into a building occupied by Russian troops and exploding. A Ukrainian military drone team called Angry Birds claims to carry out half a dozen racing-drone attacks a day. How important could these improvised weapons become?

Drone-racing involves flying drones around an obstacle course at high speed. The sport has existed for around a decade and now has leagues in several countries. Racing drones are faster and more agile than the consumer models used by photographers: they can reach speeds of almost 250kph. Operators wear video goggles to get a pilot’s-eye view. The drones are also small: most weigh no more than 500g. But they can carry a payload, such as a grenade, of a kilo or so (although a heavy load reduces their speed and flight duration).