For the first time in history, the Ukrainian military used the An-28 light transport aircraft as a platform for launching the P1-Sun Surveyor anti-aircraft drones of the Merops complex. Defense Express wrote about this on April 24, having analyzed videos published online.
According to analysts of the publication, up to six anti-aircraft drones can be suspended under the wings of the An-28. Operators are placed directly on board the aircraft, from where they control anti-aircraft drones.
Until this moment, there were no examples in the world of using aircraft directly in combat as carriers of anti-aircraft drones. This is precisely why the Ukrainian An-28, as a carrier of P1-SUN and Merops, is remarkable.
As analysts note, the video also shows that this An-28 retained its onboard machine guns. That is, this aircraft can attack enemy targets with two types of weapons at once: “miniguns” and interceptor drones.
Defense Express writes that the An-28 as a “flying battery” for interceptors is optimal due to its ability to take off from unprepared sites and its small dimensions – the wingspan is 22 meters, the fuselage length is 12.98 meters.
The An-28 can carry up to 19 people, that is, this number limits the number of weapons operators on board. The maximum flight speed is 355 km/h, the flight range is in the range of 1.2–1.9 thousand km, which allows long-term patrol while intercepting Russian UAVs.
Surveyor drones, as the publication writes, are capable of flying at a speed of 285 km/h and using a kinetic warhead to intercept targets. P1-Sun have a range of up to 15 km, a target interception altitude of up to 5 thousand meters, and a flight duration of 15–17 minutes.
