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We Followed A Drone 1,800 Miles From UK Factory To Ukraine Frontline
We Followed A Drone 1,800 Miles From UK Factory To Ukraine Frontline
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उपशीर्षक (239)
0:01
This is an AR3 reconnaissance drone.
0:06
In this corner of Southeast Ukraine,
0:08
it's best not to break cover for too
0:10
long.
0:14
This is the final test flight for the
0:16
UAV or uncrewed aerial vehicle.
0:20
Before being sent on a longer mission
0:22
over Russian-held territory to hunt for
0:24
targets.
0:29
Ukraine's drone tech has become the envy
0:32
of Western weapons manufacturers.
0:36
But this one was made 1,800 miles away.
0:41
And this is the story of how it got here
0:44
and why Ukraine needs it.
0:49
So, let's go back to where it all began
0:52
and follow the drone from factory to
0:54
front line.
0:58
We've come to an airfield on the west
1:00
coast of the UK. Behind these doors is a
1:03
key component to Ukraine's fight against
1:05
Russia. We come to this private airfield
1:08
in the west of Wales because this is the
1:09
start of a journey. The drones produced
1:12
in the warehouse behind me are just
1:13
about to embark on an 1,800 mile journey
1:16
to the east to Ukraine
1:18
and we're going to join them.
1:21
This is one of several manufacturing
1:23
sites in Britain for the Portuguese
1:24
defense firm Tekever.
1:27
It has expanded into the UK market in
1:29
recent years,
1:30
partnering on both government and
1:32
military contracts. Before 2022, their
1:35
focus was on drones that would be on the
1:37
lookout for things like illegal fishing
1:39
activity or migrant boats out to sea.
1:44
All that changed with Russia's
1:45
full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
1:50
Now, more and more of Tekever's drones
1:52
are in the skies over Russian-occupied
1:54
parts of Ukraine and out over the Black
1:56
Sea, on the lookout for targets.
1:59
>> So, behind us is our our AR3.
2:02
It is a
2:04
circa 4 m wingspan, 25 kg platform that
2:09
can operate beyond 200 km, depending on
2:12
the the payload configuration. You can
2:15
do kind of 12, 16 hours, and it's really
2:18
designed to do kind of long-range ISR
2:21
activity.
2:22
>> ISR meaning intelligence, surveillance,
2:24
and reconnaissance.
2:27
The AR3 has a vertical takeoff variant.
2:34
But, the ones headed for Ukraine launch
2:36
with the help of a catapult.
2:44
This airfield has its own designated
2:46
airspace over land and sea.
2:49
>> We plan to turn off the aircraft and
2:51
disarm the batteries.
2:54
>> A firm
2:54
>> The British military is also training to
2:56
use the drone.
3:00
For soldiers here and out in Ukraine,
3:03
being able to unbox, assemble, and
3:05
launch quickly is critical.
3:07
>> You unbox it, stand it up on the
3:10
the structure, assemble the wings.
3:11
Within 10 minutes, it's ready to be
3:13
configured to your comms system. Within
3:16
30 minutes, the Mark 8 is ready to fly.
3:21
Get in, get out. It's all about
3:23
protecting staff and the user.
3:26
>> In 2026, the UK says it will supply
3:28
150,000 drones to Ukraine, part of a $1
3:32
billion funding package.
3:37
In the workshops, around 50 people are
3:39
employed to assemble, paint,
3:42
and laminate the drones,
3:44
while looking for any imperfections that
3:46
may affect aerodynamics.
3:50
Each aircraft is made up of around 300
3:52
components.
3:55
This is the area where the wiring system
3:56
for the AR3 is put together.
4:01
It can take 3 to 4 weeks to assemble one
4:03
UAV from start to finish.
4:08
Many of those produced here are headed
4:09
to Ukraine.
4:13
Since 2022, the drone has already
4:15
received hundreds of upgrades driven
4:18
directly by the feedback from the units
4:20
on the front line, like anti-jamming
4:23
technology or camouflage and paint
4:25
coatings to reduce radar detection.
4:29
Tekever also changed the engine to give
4:31
the drone a steeper rate of climb.
4:34
>> The operating environment in Ukraine has
4:36
has really, you know, required us to to
4:39
respond at a at a speed that is is
4:42
almost alien to to traditional Western
4:45
procurement.
4:48
Where a traditional procurement might
4:50
take a number of years to be brought
4:53
into service, that is just far, far, far
4:56
too late for for the Ukrainians.
4:59
That technology would be completely
5:01
redundant by the time it got into into
5:04
service.
5:07
>> From Wales, the drones are boxed up and
5:09
sent to Portugal for final sign-off.
5:13
Then it's the long overland journey to
5:15
Ukraine.
5:17
And that means the start of a long
5:18
journey for us, too.
5:27
Okay, so we've done the 5-hour
5:30
drive from West Wales Airport to to
5:32
London.
5:34
And now it's time for the next stage of
5:36
the journey, a 2 and 1/2-hour flight to
5:37
Poland.
5:56
>> Well, as you can see, we've made it to
5:58
the center of Warsaw in Poland. Since
6:01
the start of the conflict in Ukraine,
6:02
Poland has played a key role in the
6:05
fight. This is the center for all
6:07
logistics, humanitarian aid, and more
6:09
importantly, the provision of weapons
6:11
into Ukraine. Now, we traveled by air,
6:13
but the drones that we saw manufactured
6:15
in the west of Wales are going to be
6:17
traveling overland into Ukraine.
6:20
And that's where we're going to try and
6:21
meet up with them. We can't fly any
6:23
further. Since 2022, there've been no
6:25
civilian flights into Ukraine. So, from
6:27
tomorrow, we will go by train.
6:47
Okay, just about to get on our second
6:49
train, and this one will take us across
6:50
the border
6:52
and into Ukraine.
7:00
Okay, that's us finally crossing the
7:02
border into Ukraine.
7:03
And ahead of us lies
7:06
another 9 or 10 hours of train journey.
7:24
So, after the drive to London, a flight
7:26
to Warsaw, two trains to Kyiv, and a
7:28
final long drive to southeastern
7:30
Ukraine, over 24 hours of travel time,
7:34
we're finally getting close.
7:40
Okay, we're almost at the end of our
7:42
journey. We've just met our contact from
7:45
the Black Forest Brigade.
7:47
And we're traveling the last few miles
7:50
to the training ground where we'll see
7:52
the
7:53
drones
7:54
manufactured and built in the UK and
7:57
Portugal
7:58
finally delivered to Ukraine.
8:07
And here is the van at the end of its
8:08
long journey from Portugal.
8:12
The unit is part of the 15th separate
8:14
artillery reconnaissance brigade, known
8:16
simply as Black Forest.
8:20
An appropriate name since soldiers need
8:22
forest cover to set up camp, then unbox
8:26
and assemble the AR3.
8:31
Today they're doing a test flight.
8:33
Tomorrow will be the real thing.
8:38
This is the all-important payload, a
8:40
gimbal capable of tracking and detecting
8:42
enemy targets day and night.
8:46
The team can also deploy sensors with
8:48
infrared and thermal imaging to detect
8:51
objects not visible to the naked eye.
8:54
>> For example, this team
8:56
destroy S-400 system or whole system
8:59
that was
9:00
in one field and we destroyed we
9:04
HIMARS. So,
9:05
our priorities is enemies air defense
9:08
system,
9:09
counter-battery radars and
9:13
enemy artillery.
9:14
>> Once out in the open, the unit needs to
9:16
work quickly to avoid becoming a target
9:18
itself.
9:20
This is a radio antenna for
9:21
communicating with the drone.
9:24
And this is the launch rail that uses
9:25
compressed air to inject the AR3 into
9:28
the sky.
9:35
Once in the air, the AR3 can start its
9:37
hunt for enemy assets.
9:40
Data is shared in real time with
9:41
Ukrainian forces for precision strikes
9:44
like this.
9:48
Ukraine does produce its own
9:50
surveillance drones and one-way strike
9:52
drones, of course, but still heavily
9:54
outnumbered on the battlefield, there
9:55
are never enough.
9:59
The drone lands via a parachute and an
10:02
airbag to cushion the impact.
10:06
Members of the team recover the aircraft
10:08
as quickly as they can.
10:10
Then it's back under cover.
10:15
That is the end of the line, the end of
10:17
a story that started at West Wales
10:19
Airport, where we saw the drone being
10:21
manufactured. It's come all the way here
10:23
to southeastern Ukraine for its final
10:25
tests. And then tomorrow, it'll be
10:27
running a surveillance mission over the
10:29
top of occupied Ukrainian territory,
10:32
identifying targets and passing on that
10:34
data straight onto the artillery.
10:38
In the days after our visit, the Black
10:40
Forest Brigade's drones recorded these
10:42
images of a Ukrainian strike on a
10:44
Russian-held bridge.
10:49
And they provided the coordinates for
10:50
artillery to strike this Russian
10:52
surface-to-air missile system.
10:58
Tekever wouldn't say how many of its
11:00
AR3s had been lost in Ukraine.
11:03
In August, Russian state media reported
11:05
that Russian forces had shot down an AR3
11:08
and transferred it to a research
11:10
institute for study.
11:13
A Portuguese-British drone in Ukrainian
11:16
skies shows how Ukraine still needs
11:18
Western aircraft to sustain its fight
11:20
against Russia, but it also shows how
11:23
much manufacturers need Ukrainian combat
11:25
experience
11:26
to keep those aircraft relevant.
11:40
>> Mhm.
