Multiple sources (or a handful of sources repeated multiple times, I can’t tell) are reporting that a number of Russian drone operators have been killed or wounded by booby-trapped (explosive) FPV drone goggles. It’s a move reminiscent of what the Israelis did with Hezbollah pagers and cell phones in September of last year.
Explosive FPV Drone Goggles: Ukrainians Echoing Israelis?
By David Reeder for Breach Bang Clear
Hard to believe that is a coincidence…
Anyway, I first spotted the story on @saintjavelin. The post said simply,
💥 Eight Russian drone operators lost their sight due to the remote detonation of FPV goggles supplied by volunteer organizations. Explosive substance C-4, a detonator, and a battery were found inside the FPV goggles. Approximately 80 sets were reportedly sent to Russian military units by volunteer organizations between January-February 2025.
It looks like the goggles were prepped with explosives and then moved into Russia disguised as (or perhaps in a shipment of) humanitarian aid. The Main Directorate of Intelligence to the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine (Holovne upravlinnia rozvidky Ministerstva oborony Ukrainy or HUR) is said to have developed and executed the operation. The Ukrainian operation was somewhat effective, but wasn’t conducted on sufficient scale to have the same impact on the Russians as the exploding pagers did on Hezbollah.
The Israelis killed or wounded a lot of people with their operation. You can apparently count the number of Russian casualties on two hands.
Well…unless you were holding one of those caught holding a booby-trapped pager, cell, phone, or set of drone goggles. In that case, you might need some of your toes and your pecker to get there.
Some places have used that unimpressive casualty rate to categorize the operation as a failure. I disagree. Now, every. single. time. some poor bastard of a Russian FPV drone operator goes to do his job, there’s going to be at least a moment of trepidation. That sort of fear directly impacts morale, which has a huge impact on a soldier’s effectiveness.
This isn’t a new idea. The Rhodesians booby-trapped ammunition and magazines during the Bush War. Multiple sides in the Yugoslav wars did the same sort of thing. You only need to have a handful of “battlefield pickup” weapons and gear to kill, wound, or maim someone before everyone gets really nervous.
The Kyiv Post is pretty chuffed about the operation, as one might imagine.
Their report reads, in part,
“[A] batch of Skyzone Cobra X v4 goggles, used to control first-person view (FPV) drones, that had been sent to Russian military units in early February contained improvised explosive device (IEDs) designed to function when the equipment was in use.
Following reports by pro-Kremlin milbloggers that several Russian drone operators had been injured while using the goggles when the hidden IEDs functioned…”
They go on to report that around 80 sets of these FPV goggles, each containing about half an ounce of plastic explosive, a detonator, and a battery, were sent to several different Russian military formations (I’m not sure which ones, and Moscow doesn’t talk much about casualties).
According to the Post, at least eight (8) drone pilots were “seriously injured” after goggles detonated. Many were reportedly blinded, and who knows, maybe some actually lost their heads.
What we don’t know – and what all those Russian drone operators don’t know – is if the HUR operation is continuing or if other areas and other units have been issued booby-trapped anything. Not just goggles.
That’s a definite win for the Ukrainians, not least given just how significant FPV drones are on the modern battlefield.
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The Russians deserve anything they get after their invasion.