China’s neutrality evaporates – DJI tracks Ukrainian UAVs up to 50km
KYIV ($1=37.11 Ukrianian Hryvnias) — China has widely advertised to the world its “neutral” position on the war in Ukraine. Beijing has repeatedly stated that military aid to Moscow will not be provided, neither with weapons and systems nor with soldiers. Even so, nothing prevents Russian money from reaching Chinese aero products.
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Back in March, at the very beginning of the war, Ukraine notified one of the Chinese drone manufacturers, DJI, that their products were being used by Russia’s armed forces. The Chinese manufacturer took responsibility. DJI siad that it was ending deliveries to Russia. Even DJI claims that their distributors around the world have been notified to be careful about who they sell to.
However, it is difficult to prevent such an action, especially in the sector of civil aviation products. The drone war in Ukraine is growing and is on track to supplant the artillery war in the middle of the year. Months later, after Kyiv asked DJI to stop selling its products to Russians, drones from the same manufacturer were spotted again.
And now, just a few days ago, a Ukrainian journalist revealed that China continues to supply Russia with DJI drones. Yes, Beijing may not be directly involved in these supplies, but as mentioned earlier: behind fake names and identities, but with real money, it is difficult, if not impossible, to stop such sales.
Julian Röpke, the journalist we mentioned, used his Twitter account to post a photo of brand-new drones he had just received. He claims the drones are for the Russian military. “The Russian army is heavily relying on @DJIGlobal drones to continue its attack on Ukraine. Each of the Chinese drones costs 12,000 Euro,” says the journalist.
According to sources and some opinions of experts familiar with the drone industry, these are Matrice-30T model drones. There is no way for BulgarianMilitary.com to confirm the authenticity of the model, neither the photos nor the claims. But if this is the drone is Matrice-30T, then Russia has an aerial vehicle that can not only easily turn into a kamikaze, but also track enemy drones.
I.e. if this is the correct model, it has a special software integrated into it – AeroScope. This software aims to fix an enemy drone. Also this UAV can track other drones from a distance of up to 50 km. In this way, the Russian operator can easily obtain the location of the Ukrainian drone operator, or of a specific combat unit, division, fortification, etc. I.e. The GEO location of an enemy unit now becomes visible.
In Ukraine, not only the Russians use DJI drones, but also the Ukrainians. Their importance is becoming more and more essential and tangible on the battlefield. These drones have revolutionized artillery accuracy and shooting, says Yuriy Baluevsky, the former chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. He wrote this statement in his recently published book, referring not exactly to the Matrice-30T, but to the MJI brand and more specifically to the DJI Mavic model.
BulgarianMilitary.com recalls that Russia also uses another type of “foreign” drone. These are Shahеd-136 production of Iran. It was they who became part of the latest Russian missile attacks on energy infrastructures in Ukraine. Last but not least, this drone is the first in the world to shoot down a fighter jet. A Ukrainian MiG-29 was hit by “debris” from a downed Shahed-136 during an aerial interception and elimination of a swarm of drones. This happened on October 12th.
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