Dozens Of FPVs Chip Away Support Columns To Bring Down Road Bridge

BusinessAerospace & DefenseDozens Of FPVs Chip Away Support Columns To Bring Down Road BridgeByDavid Hambling,Senior Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I'm a South London-based technology journalist, consultant and authorFollow AuthorJun 17, 2026, 06:51am EDTJun 17, 2026, 06:52am EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.SummaryA recent video shows 43 FPV drones collapsing a Ukrainian road bridge by repeatedly striking its five support columns. This marks a significant military first, demonstrating that small, inexpensive drones can destroy robust infrastructure from a distance, a task previously requiring costly missiles or airstrikes. The drones, equipped with RPG warheads, cumulatively chipped away concrete from the reinforced columns, compromising their structural integrity until the bridge failed. This method is efficient and cost-effective, using minimal munitions compared to traditional bombing campaigns. This development suggests FPVs could increasingly target larger structures, revolutionizing bridge destruction tactics and posing new challenges for defense.Show More Towards the end of the video the bridge supports have visible lost integrity and the rebar buckles. Russian 3rd Army Group Video shared by a Russian military blog shows successive attacks by 43 small FPV drones bringing down a Ukrainian road bridge. Individually too weak to damage such a massive structure, the cumulative effects of the drone strikes gradually chips through all five support columns and the bridge comes down. This is a notable first. While it seems obvious that an attack like this can succeed in theory, the video is hard evidence that it really works, and FPVs can down a bridge from many miles away. Such an operation usually takes a well-directed airstrike or a huge, expensive missile like ATACMS.Bridge Dropping 101Bridges are natural chokepoints...