Ukraine’s Bullet Interceptor Gains Chemical Booster to Outpace Jet-Powered Shaheds (united24media.com)

submitted 17 hours ago by supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz to c/ukraine@sopuli.xyz

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The category of "guided missile" and "drone" blurs even further.

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[-] FaceDeer@fedia.io 9 points 15 hours ago

Interesting, it's used for launch. I would have assumed it would be for the final "sprint" to hit the target. If it's used for launch then I would think that having it be a jettisonable first stage would be an advantage rather than a detriment.

[-] The_v@lemmy.world 3 points 6 hours ago

The most energy intensive stage of the launch is getting up in the air and gaining speed. Having it go off first decreases the time it takes to get up to speed and increases the flight range. Hauling the extra weight of the chemical booster could reduce the overall flight speed and range of the drone.

Having a booster rocket that is jettisoned adds a certain amount of inherent risk and complication. It needs to detach cleanly when it is finished every time. It also need to reliably remain attached during transport and launching.

The weight of the rocket equipment portion probably doesn't add up to much and can be compensated for with a slightly smaller warhead.

If I had to guess, it's likely a larger rocket motor from a common hobby rocket. Something like this or larger.

https://www.apogeerockets.com/Rocket_Motors/54mm_Motors

Plentiful, easy to source, and relatively cheap.