Thunder of dragons spotted in Ukraine

THERE IS A THUNDER OF DRAGONS FLYING OVER UKRAINE’S BATTLEFIELDS. OR BROOD OF DRAGONS. FLIGHT OF DRAGONS ALSO WORKS. WHATEVER TERM YOU WANT TO USE, GROUPS OF THESE MODERN ITERATIONS OF THE MYTHICAL BEASTS ARE OUT IN FULL FORCE.

VIDEO OF THESE THERMITE DROPPING DRONES, NICKNAMED DRAGON’S BREATH, STARTED SURFACING ONLINE IN SEPTEMBER. AS IS OFTEN THE CASE WITH MYTHICAL BEASTS THOUGH, REPORTS OF THEIR EXISTENCE DID PRE-DATE REPORTS OF THEIR FIRST CONFIRMED SIGHTINGS.

SINCE SEPTEMBER, THERE’S BEEN A DELUGE OF DOCUMENTED DRAGON DEALINGS.
INITIALLY, UKRAINE USED THE DRONES TO BURN OUT TREE-LINES AND TRENCHES WHERE RUSSIAN SOLDIERS WERE TAKING UP POSITIONS.

THERE’S NOT A LOT OF DEFENSE AGAINST LIQUID FIRE RAINING FROM ABOVE. THIS VIDEO SHOWS RUSSIAN ROUNDS SHOOTING PAST THE DRONES, AS THE SOLDIERS BELOW TRY DESPERATELY TO DISPATCH THE DEVICES BEFORE THEY REACH THEIR TARGETS

THE BREATH IN DRAGON’S BREATH IS THERMITE; A MIXTURE OF METAL POWDER AND RUST THAT, WHEN IGNITED, BURNS AT AROUND 4500 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT. TWICE AS HOT AS MAGMA, AND ENOUGH TO BURN THROUGH ALMOST ANYTHING IT TOUCHES. INCLUDING ARMOR. THIS IS VIDEO OF A DRAGON’S BREATH USED AGAINST A RUSSIAN TANK, THAT HAD JUST RUN OVER A MINE. AFTER A QUICK THERMITE SHOWER, THE RUSSIAN TANK IS DESTROYED.

RUSSIAN MILITARY-BLOGGERS, WHICH CONTINUE TO BE MORE RELIABLE THAN THE KREMLIN IN TERMS OF BATTLEFIELD REPORTS, ARE REPORTING RUSSIAN TROOPS ON THE GROUND ARE GETTING VERY LITTLE GUIDANCE ABOUT HOW TO DEAL WITH THE NEW UKRAINIAN WEAPON. MOST OF THE FEEDBACK, REPORTEDLY, INVOLVES SOLDIERS JUST DIGGING DEEPER TRENCHES, AND HAVING PLENTY OF SAND AND WATER ON HAND TO PUT OUT FIRES.

ABOUT THE ONLY DEFENSE AGAINST BURNING THERMITE, IS PUTTING A DECENT LAYER OF FIREPROOF BRICK OR CONCRETE BETWEEN YOURSELF AND THE THERMITE.

THAT MIGHT BE WHAT A GROUP OF RUSSIANS TRIED DOING HERE, WHEN THEY GOT INSIDE THIS CONCRETE-ENCLOSED POSITION KNOWN AS A PILLBOX. BUT DRAGON’S CAN STILL FLY LOW, AND UKRAINE’S DRONE PILOTS HAVE A LOT OF EXPERIENCE. SO ONCE THIS DRONE DROPPED ITS THERMITE PAYLOAD INSIDE THE BUNKER, THE CONCRETE WALLS ESSENTIALLY CREATED AN OVEN INSIDE, COOKING OFF WHATEVER AMMO AND EQUIPMENT WAS WITHIN.

AS WITH OTHER DRONE INNOVATIONS PIONEERED IN UKRAINE, RUSSIA IS ALSO TRYING TO FIELD ITS OWN VERSIONS OF DRAGON’S BREATH. THIS IS VIDEO OF ONE UNIT TRYING TO DEVELOP THE CONCEPT FOR THE KREMLIN. AND WHILE THE DRONE DOES FLY OVER TREES AND PUTS OUT A SHOWER OF SPARKS, IT DOESN’T HAVE THE SAME SORT OF EFFECT ON TARGET UKRAINE’S DRAGONS DO. AT LEAST NOT YET.

FOR STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS, I’M RYAN ROBERTSON AND WE’VE BEEN COVERING THE CONFLICT IN UKRAINE FROM THE BEGINNING. FOR MORE OF OUR REPORTING, BE SURE TO DOWNLOAD THE STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS APP TODAY, OR LOG ONTO SAN.COM.