Moment £21,000 Ukrainian drone knocks out £6m Russian Podlyot radar system in fiery smash and grab

This is the dramatic moment a drone that cost just £21,000 knocked out a £6million Russian radar system. 

The Podlyot radar complex was struck by a Ukrainian drone earlier this week, and footage showed how the system was devastated. 

The clip shows a kamikaze drone, a Polish-made Warmate operated by Ukrainians, flying into the spinning radar dish of the system, which supposedly can simultaneously detect up to 200 targets up to a range of 190 miles. 

A second clip showed another drone flying into the power station feeding the radar system energy.

Ukrainian intelligence wrote after the attack: 'Successful fire damage was inflicted on the antenna-feeder installation and the diesel station that fed the complex.'

Ukraine's defence ministry said on Telegram that the Geese 9 Unit were responsible for taking out the radar complex, adding that it was a new piece of technology that has only been deployed since 2015. 

The Podlyot radar complex was struck by a Ukrainian drone earlier this week, and footage showed how the system was devastated.

The clip shows a kamikaze drone, a Polish-made Warmate operated by Ukrainians, flying into the spinning radar dish of the system

The system is used to detect targets and send coordinated to S-300 and S-400 anti-aircraft systems. 

While Ukraine's use of drones in its defence against Russia has been successful, other elements of its military haven't been as efficient. 

Ukraine has been forced to sideline US-provide Abrams tanks for now in its fight against Russia, in part because Russian drone warfare has made it too difficult for them to operate without detection or coming under attack.

The US agreed to send 31 Abrams to Ukraine in January 2023 after an aggressive months-long campaign by Kyiv arguing that the tanks, which cost about $10 million apiece, were vital to its ability to breach Russian lines.

But the battlefield has changed substantially since then, notably by the ubiquitous use of Russian surveillance drones and hunter-killer drones - tactics also used to great effect by Ukraine's armed forces.

Those weapons have made it more difficult for Ukraine to protect their American made tanks, which are considered high priority targets by Russian units.

Russian troops claimed to have destroyed the first Abrams tank in Ukraine in February, with several Russian military bloggers sharing a clip of the armour on fire following a drone strike.

Ukrainian intelligence wrote after the attack: 'Successful fire damage was inflicted on the antenna-feeder installation and the diesel station that fed the complex'

Ukraine's defence ministry said on Telegram that the Geese 9 Unit were responsible for taking out the radar complex

The system is used to detect targets and send coordinated to S-300 and S-400 anti-aircraft systems

Since then, Moscow's forces have honed their approach to tackling Western armour.

Five of the 31 Abrams tanks in Ukraine have been destroyed in the past three months.

For now, the tanks have been moved from the front lines, and the US will work with the Ukrainians to reset tactics, said US Joint Chiefs of Staff Vice Chairman Adm. Christopher Grady and a third defence official who confirmed the move on the condition of anonymity.

'When you think about the way the fight has evolved, massed armour in an environment where unmanned aerial systems are ubiquitous can be at risk,' Grady said this week, adding that tanks are still important.

'Now, there is a way to do it,' he said.

'We'll work with our Ukrainian partners, and other partners on the ground, to help them think through how they might use that, in that kind of changed environment now, where everything is seen immediately.'