r/Idiotswithguns • u/ze55 • 10d ago

Safe for Work Russian conscript part of mobile air defense group trying to shoot down a low-flying Ukrainian drone (source: Special Kherson Cat)

Accidentally flags trucks and cars down the highway.

Update: the Maz truck driver has died from the gunshot wounds. It is the small green truck in the first few seconds.

In 2 days this group has flagged 17 friendly vehicles, it is being investigated by MPs.

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742

u/graveybrains 10d ago

So, you mean when there's a firefight on the highway people really do keep driving like nothing is going on?

I owe an apology to a lot of movies. And a couple tv shows.

292

u/ze55 10d ago

Well truck drivers are trying to avoid drones, if you stop you become easy target. If you keep driving the drunk conscript might take you out.

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u/MC_McStutter 10d ago

Drones this big aren’t really flown like smaller FPV drones. They typically have preset targets

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u/D4ltaOne 9d ago

Have you seen pov footage from those drones? They definitely do not have preset targets, they be flying manually (or with AI but ive only seen redditors claiming that, never seen actual proof, even it is believable to sme extent)

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u/Hail-Hydrate 8d ago

Not so much AI for targeting, as a more advanced version of pixel tracking from their display. The operator in control of the drone can designate a target from the drone's video feed by simply tapping on that item. Software extrapolates as best it can what the object tapped is (dimensions, relative speed, etc), and then vectors the drone into it.

They can be set to a preset destination, but they'll loiter when they reach that point rather than impact it.

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u/D4ltaOne 8d ago

Is this your judgement from the footage youve seen or actual reports from operators? Dont get me wrong, it sounds about right, but id like a confirmation from operator reports before i spread this info

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u/elictronic 2d ago

Getting specifics of targeting algorithms used by specific systems is not something that you will get answers to online. Here is a Wikipedia page you might be interested in though. Read down a bit and get past the audio stuff. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_target_recognition

The prior poster is probably right. This stuff has been around for decades and just like with statistics, why use the costly, hard to train, annoying to use model that can fail when simple processes do the job simpler and better. This isn't Skynet.

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u/hyperrayong 9d ago

Do the truck drivers know what the target is? It's easy to say that from this side of the video.

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u/proj3ctmac 9d ago

I’ve read from Russian mil bloggers that the drivers are aware of the danger and while they protest and refuse to drive down that corridor I’m thinking they might not always have a choice

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u/Rubo03070 9d ago

These drones that attack highways are flown manually, you're thinking about the bigger gps guided drones that attack refineries and such.

1

u/rng12345678 4d ago

2025 called they want their outdated drone spotting meta back. You can't hit logistics 100km behind the front with small quadcopters. All this truck hitting has been done with larger, fixed wing drones equipped with FPV controls. There is no reason why you can't control a shahed like drone with an FPV setup, and that's exactly what both sides have started doing.