Ukrainian drones hit Grozny: Modified A‑22 aircraft in play

On Sunday, December 15, an attack occurred on the OMON base, a special unit of the Russian police in Grozny. According to David Axe from Forbes, Ukraine might have employed a modified A-22 aircraft converted into a combat drone. Axe notes that this is another in a series of long-range attacks that Ukraine has been conducting since the beginning of the year.

Chechnya has once again become a target of drone attacks. On Sunday morning in Grozny, several explosions impacted the police garrison and a military base. Witnesses reported hearing the sound of approaching drones just before the explosions. Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Chechnya, announced retaliation for the attacks, using operational data from his scouts.

The modified A-22, which had a range of up to 810 miles, was equipped with an additional fuel tank, remote control systems, and explosive charges to strike the designated target. Its cost is estimated to be around $90,000. Axe also mentions one detail: the plane might have been previously registered, suggesting that the Ukrainian armed forces have been using A-22s in their arsenal rather than purchasing them from the primary market.

The strike caused a wave of fire but did not result in a shower of debris, distinguishing it from missile attacks, such as those using the Storm Shadow. The A-22, with a simpler warhead, reaches a maximum speed of 124 mph, which makes it slightly less mobile than faster missiles. The Aeroprakt A-22 is, in its basic version, an ultra-light aircraft built in a high-wing strut configuration. Its first flight took place in 1996.

This aircraft is powered by a Rotax 912 engine that generates about 90 horsepower. With a wingspan of just over 31 feet, a length of about 20 feet, and a height of just under 8 feet, the A-22 weighs 595 pounds and can accelerate to approximately 112 mph. It's important to note that the drone used in the attack on the base in Grozny was modified, and the details of these modifications are unknown. Its parameters probably differed slightly from those of the basic variant of the A-22.