The word palianytsia (a hearth-baked bread) is a shibboleth that has been used to unmask foreign agents in Ukraine's armed forces, who are usually unable to pronounce the word correctly.[2][3]
Description
On Ukraine's Independence Day (24 August 2024) Ukrainian President Zelenskyy unveiled the "missile-drone" as "a new class of weaponry" that is difficult to counter and that had already been used against Russian military targets.[4][5] The unveil came after Ukrainian authorities claimed responsibility for a strike on an ammunition depot in Voronezh Oblast, that media connected with the Palianytsia.[6]
Two named defense analysts estimate that the Palianytsia has a warhead of "a few tens of kilograms", i.e. considerably less than a traditional cruise missile.[8] Another analyst believes the warhead weighs 50 kg while a Ukrainian reserve colonel estimates the warhead to be several hundred kilograms.[9]
Although the Palianytsia has been termed a rocket drone, it is powered by a turbojet engine.[8][10]
According to military correspondent David Axe Palianytsia is powered by an AI-PBS-350 jet-engine jointly developed by Czech PBS Velká Bíteš and Ukrainian Ivchenko-Progress SE.[11] The AI-PBS-350 is optimized for single use munitions, it weighs 51 kg, has an outer diameter of 298 mm, a length of 706 mm and produces 3400 N of thrust. The engine's specific fuel consumption is 0.125 kg/N/h, i.e. at full thrust the consumption is 425 kg/h.[12]
Production
On 28 August 2024, Minister for Digital TransformationMykhailo Fedorov stated that the Palianytsia costs less than 1 million USD.[13] A Ukrainian reserve colonel estimates the cost to be 50 to 100 thousand USD, i.e. much less than Western cruise missiles that cost upwards of one million USD.[9]
Palianytsia's unveiling came on 24 August 2024 with the claim that the missile had already been used against unspecified Russian military targets that media speculated included an ammunition depot in Voronezh Oblast.[6]
On 18 and 21 September 2024, UAVs caused the Toropets depot explosions and explosions at an ammunition storage facility at Tikhoretsk as well as at the Tikhoretsk air base.[16][17][18] In part based on reports of jet engines being heard by Russians during the attacks military correspondent David Axe subsequently reasoned that the attacks were done with Palianytsia.[11]
