A Ukrainian Tu-143 jet-powered drone, dating from the late Cold War era, has been shot down in western Russia, according to the claim of one local official.
Originally a reconnaissance drone, the Tu-143 — also known as the Reys, meaning voyage in Russian — is closely related to the Tu-141, an example of which crashed in Croatia in March, in a bizarre and still-unexplained incident that we reported on here. The Tu-141 in Croatia reportedly carried an explosive warhead and the appearance of a broadly similar drone in Russia now further hints at Ukraine potentially having adapted these unmanned aerial vehicles as vengeance weapons.
Photos showing the wreckage of the tail section of a Tu-143 were posted to the Russian Telegram instant messaging service this morning, by the governor of Kursk Oblast in western Russia, Roman Starovoyt. While badly mangled, the parts shown in the four images certainly appear to be from a Tu-143 drone. Alongside the photos, Starovoyt posted the following text:
“Good morning. I am publishing pictures of the drone we shot down last night. A Soviet-era Ukrainian Tu-141 Strizh flew into our airspace. The Investigative Committee is working at the site where the wreckage was found.”
While misidentified as the larger Tu-141, the drone appears to have damage that could be consistent with the detonation of a fragmentation warhead from a surface-to-air missile, with multiple small punctures in the skin of the airframe like those that can result from shrapnel. However, there is no way to confirm this. It is also possible that the drone crashed, either deliberately or due to some kind of malfunction, although the unique nature of the damage seen would be puzzling. The exact location of the wreckage was also not provided.
Furthermore, we can’t say for certain that this was a Ukrainian-operated drone, although that also seems likely. After all, Ukrainian Tu-143s have previously featured in the Russo-Ukrainian conflict, with at least one example reportedly being shot down by Russian air defense systems over Ukraine in April.
Starovoyt did not hypothesize what the latest Ukrainian drone was doing over Russian territory and whether it was engaged on a reconnaissance or strike mission, or whether its presence was intended to trigger or confuse Russian air defense systems.
A retired Ukrainian Tu-143 Reys displayed in Kyiv. The drone is 26 feet 5 inches long with a wingspan of 7 feet 4 inches.
The Tu-141 and Tu-143 were both developed during the Cold War for tactical reconnaissance missions, carrying optical cameras, and latterly also TV and infrared sensors. However, it’s been suggested that Ukrainian-operated drones of these types have been used in the current conflict to locate Russian ground-based air defense systems, revealing their presence so that they can be avoided by Ukrainian aircraft and/or attacked. Having fast-moving jet-powered drones operating over Russian air defenses could also help to simply overwhelm them, increasing the chances of survival for Ukrainian aircraft.
A Ukrainian Tu-143 blasts off from its BAZ-135 transporter/launch vehicle
As a primitive cruise missile, the Tu-143 could indeed serve as a functional vengeance weapon aimed at hitting the Russian military and Russian infrastructure behind its own lines. With a range of around 125 miles compared to roughly 650 miles for the larger Tu-141, the Tu-143 would still be able to fly one-way missions to hit Russian targets closer to the Ukrainian border, including being able to cover most of Kursk Oblast from a launching location close to the Ukrainian side of the border. While not extremely precise, these drones could certainly be targeted at a larger facility or infrastructure target.
Source: The Drive