Squadron Yak-52 against the drones of the Russian Federation: how non-standard tactics of Ukraine work-WSJ (video)

The reporting of The Wall Street Journal told audiences about the consequences of Russian blows in Ukrainian cities and explained how old aircraft became useful for forces of air defense. WSJ has published a report on the "secret unit of Ukraine", which opposes the drone of the Russian Federation. It is indicated that the staff of this unit is similar to the events of the First World War, when pilots fired from a machine gun on enemies.

In 2025, on the battlefield in Ukraine, journalists looked inside the cabin of "Amateur Squadron", which "wages a new kind of war with old technology. " The reporting was introduced to viewers with two pilots with the call sign "Maestro" and "Ninja". They explained that the original purpose of the Yak-52 is sports flights and training. However, during the invasion of the Russian Federation it was necessary to use this type of equipment, it was heard on video.

"Today we have a situation that we need to use everything we have," the pilots said. The media explained how the Yak-52 work. It turned out that these are super -simple planes that do not have radars to detect UAVs and therefore fly only during the day when they are clearly visible. When the Russian drone finds itself in the sector for which the unit is responsible, the pilots take off for 15 minutes and move according to the instructions that hear on radio communications.

At some point, they visually see an enemy device, and then they are neutralized. "The pilot is as close as possible, and then the Sagittarius is literally coming out of the window with a shotgun or automatic weapon to shoot in this thing," the media said. In addition to the shotgun, they can use another way, clarified pilots. According to the "maestro", sometimes it is possible to get very close to the drone, and then it is simply beaten with a wing.

The results of the crew of Yak-52, which counteracts the drones since 2022, is a "minus" of 50 Russian drones, knocked down during 300 departments. According to the command, aviation (planes and helicopters) in a total of 10-12% of drones, which launches the Russian Federation during air attacks, said WSJ. It is emphasized that the Russians have increased the number of air goals, so it becomes more difficult to repel.

The media noted that Ukraine had to pay attention to 40-year aircraft, even with Western means-Patriot and F-16 fighters. It should be noted that the focus wrote about the appearance of light-motor planes Yak-52, which were used to reflect the attacks of drones of the Russian Federation. Video with footage of work of defense fighters appeared in the summer of 2024. On a brief record we see the aircraft neutralized by the intelligent drone Zala, which flew over the southern regions of Ukraine.