Journalists believe that the drone that attacked the train in Volgograd region of the Russian Federation, could not have been launched from the territory of Ukraine.
A drone attack on a freight train in the Volgograd region of the Russian Federation on May 14 became the first successful attack by an unmanned aircraft on a train in history. How such an operation became possible is described in a Forbes article.
It is reported that as a result of a drone strike, a Russian freight train derailed, one of the tanks burned, and the rest were scattered across the line. At the same time, it cannot be unequivocally stated that the drone was launched from the territory of Ukraine.
The Reuters publication suggests that a Ukrainian UAV crashed into the train. However, as the author of the article notes, hitting a moving train with a long-range kamikaze drone — difficult task. Such drones, as a rule, are pre-programmed to hit a target with specific coordinates, which makes it possible to hit stationary objects.
There are also UAVs with the function of machine vision that can fly to the target and make automatic re-guidance, but the publication's sources claim that in the case of a train, this would not be easy. Hitting the train could theoretically be done by a powerful FPV drone controlled by an operator from a long distance, but that would require a satellite terminal like Starlink.
The author of the publication noted that there is a simpler explanation — the train could be attacked by saboteurs with a smaller drone from a short distance. The founder of the White Bear partisan group, who maintains contacts with a number of other partisan groups, including the Russians, refrained from commenting on the incident with the train. However, he confirmed that many guerrillas are beginning to buy both Mavic-type quadcopters and FPV kamikazes.
As the publication notes, damage on railway tracks is easy to see, so saboteurs prefer to cause damage just before the arrival of a train. , to let it slide. If they have a UAV at their disposal, it is almost impossible to protect the train from an attack. Guerrillas can hide many kilometers away from the railway, waiting for a train to approach in order to launch the drone. The future may also see machines optimized for attacks on trains and rail infrastructure.
“This attack — is the first time a train has been derailed by a drone. But, as with other types drone attacks, such as kamikaze boat strikes on Russian warships, these incidents may become commonplace in the coming months,” — summarized in the publication.