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GAME OF DRONES
How amateur drone fanatics are building weapons in their bedrooms which can take out Putin’s battle tanks
DEADLY tankbuster drones to take on Russia are being built on the cheap inside homes in Ukraine.
The Sun has been shown how the amateur fanatics are making the flying bombs in their spare bedrooms.
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The game-changing weapons cost a few hundred pounds and can blitz battle tanks worth millions.
Makers use 3D printers, parts from China and their own custom designs.
Strapped to a rocket-propelled grenade the drones are transformed into precision guided missiles that can hunt and destroy moving vehicles at over 100mph.
Footage from Ukraine’s special forces show the drones hitting tanks, armoured vehicles, jeeps and supply trucks of Vladimir Putin’s forces.
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Dima, a drone buff, said he can churn out five a day — in between his day job as a mechanical engineer and family life, raising a six-year-old daughter.
He said: “Before the war this was just my hobby. But now we all have a common cause.
“We have to defend our country, so we do whatever we can.”
His group in southern Ukraine have made almost 3,000 since the start of the war last year.
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His range, called Fury, are based on stunt-drones Dima developed for filming sports cars and bikes.
He has had to adapt his peace-time designs by making them wider and longer to carry a rocket-propelled grenade.
He has also developed a smaller “Speedster” model which can reach speeds of 180mph.
Soldiers are trained for a week in how to use a Fury.
But Dima says once you have mastered it “you can fly through an open hatch of a moving tank”.
His team are constantly adapting them to stay ahead of the Russians.
He said: “We always have to find new ways around the Russian jamming because they learn very fast.”
Ukraine has also been able to use drones donated by cigarette smugglers to aid their cause.
The bootleggers handed over the devices — which have now been altered to carry up to six 82mm mortar bombs to drop on targets.
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One soldier explained of the donated weapons: “We have bought more, because they are so good.
“We used them a lot in Kherson because the Russians didn’t have good jamming equipment.”
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