The Ukrainian Armed Forces blew up a bridge using British Malloy T-150s – what is known about the operation
This is reported by The Telegraph, with further details provided by Militarnyi.
According to The Telegraph, the Ukrainian military carried out an unconventional operation using British Malloy T-150 heavy drones. The publication reports that it was these drones that helped destroy the bridge, which had previously failed to be destroyed by air strikes.
How the operation unfolded
According to The Telegraph, the mission was carried out by the 426th Marine Unmanned Systems Regiment. The operation lasted 60 days: during this time, the drones made 30 sorties and delivered a total of 1.5 tonnes of explosives. Following a series of explosions targeting the already damaged structure, a final missile strike was delivered.
The report also notes that previous attempts had been made to destroy the bridge using aircraft and HIMARS rockets, but the structure proved too sturdy to withstand strikes from above. Regiment commander Oleksiy Bulakhov explained that bridges are easier to destroy from below, whereas from above they are designed to be extremely robust.
Separately, The Telegraph reports that the engineers were aided by a photo of a Russian soldier beneath the bridge supports, which Ukrainian military personnel found on Instagram. This enabled them to pinpoint the structure’s weak points more accurately.
Why the Malloy T-150 was chosen for the mission
What makes this story unique is that the Malloy T-150 was not designed as a strike drone, but as a logistics platform. Malloy Aeronautics and BAE Systems describe the T-150 as an all-electric UAS for delivering cargo in challenging conditions, and the technical documentation for the T series explicitly mentions protection against GPS jamming.
For this operation, according to mission reports, the T-150 was suitable due to its quiet operation, the absence of a thermal signature from the electric motor, and its ability to lift up to 68 kilograms of payload. It was precisely this capability that allowed the use of 50-kilogram explosive charges, which were lowered on cables onto weak points in the support structures.
Publications about the platform also note that the Malloy concept was originally conceived by New Zealand inventor Chris Malloy as a “flying motorbike” for working with livestock in the Australian outback. This idea subsequently evolved into a logistics drone for military and civilian tasks.
As a reminder, Russian forces have lost a further 1,030 personnel over the past 24 hours in the war against Ukraine. Total losses since the start of the full-scale invasion have exceeded 1.3 million.
