Ukraine shoots down China-made Mugin-5 drone carrying bomb: Report

A Chinese-made commercial drone that was retrofitted and weaponised has been shot down in Ukraine. The drone carried a bomb of about 20 kilograms, which the Ukrainian soldiers later detonated, reports said. 

The weaponized commercial drone did not have a camera fitted, meaning it was not used for surveillance

The Ukrainian military shot down a modernised and weaponised China-made Mugin-5 drone in eastern Ukraine last Sunday. The drone, Mugin-5, manufactured by Mugin Limited, a Chinese company based in Xiamen, was shot down by AK-47s in the wartorn country over the weekend, CNN reported.

These unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) are also known as "Alibaba drones" because they can be purchased for up to US$15,000 on the Chinese online platforms Alibaba and Taobao.

Mugin Limited, the company which makes the drone, confirmed to CNN that it was their airframe, calling the incident “deeply unfortunate.” Mugin Limited confirmed that the craft was discovered near the city of Sloviansk, eastern Ukraine, and was one of its own.

The drone carried a bomb of about 20 kilograms, which the Ukrainian soldiers later detonated.

The incident is the latest example of a civilian drone being retrofitted and weaponised since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a sign of the rapidly shifting patterns of warfare.

Late Saturday night, the fighters from the 111th Brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces of Ukraine heard a drone overhead and saw a flashing light at around 2 am.

Maksim, a 35-year-old territorial defense fighter, told CNN, "UAV was flying at very low altitude – close enough to bring it down with hand-held weapons."

Russia’s Ministry of Defence is yet to comment on the incident.

NO CAMERA FITTED

The weaponized commercial drone did not have a camera fitted, meaning it was not used for surveillance. Experts suggested it could have been used as a “dumb bomb”, according to specialist in drone warfare, Chris Lincoln-Jones.

“This particular drone that we’ve been looking at would be much more effective if it had a decent camera in it,” Chris Lincoln-Jones, a retired British Army officer, said.

“This seems to be a very crude, unsophisticated, not very technologically advanced way of conducting operations,” he added.

Both Russia and Ukraine have been using drones in the war ever since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a military invasion in Ukraine. Drones are used for surveillance purposes and to locate enemy targets and guide artillery targets towards them.

“Both Russia and Ukraine have used commercially available Chinese platforms such as this during the course of the conflict, including in armed roles,” NR Jenzen-Jones, an arms and munitions intelligence specialist, told CNN.

In January, officials in the Russian-held Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine claimed in a Telegram post that they had shot down a Mugin-5 launched by Ukrainian forces.