Last week Ukrainian analyst Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov shared images a curious new Russian device: an FPV drone carrying a trail camera and mounted on a bamboo frame . “Flash,” who detailed technical knowledge has won him more than 100,000 followers has been adept at highlighting significant new developments.

The drone with a tracking camera sounds strange, however, this attached suit can next to a track and secretly send videos of each and every vehicle that passes by for weeks. Built from affordable promotional components, it’s the kind of stealthy and efficient spy American forces dreamed of.

Unattended ground sensors or UGS date back to the 1960s when the U.S. was trying to stop traffic along the Ho Chi Minh trail, the key supply route for the Viet Cong. 1960s seismic, magnetic and acoustic sensors which were able to detect nearby vehicle movements, but the technology did not exist for a video device. Thousands of sensors, each the size of fencepost, were dropped under the Igloo White program from F-4 Phantoms, CH-3 helicopters and other aircraft.

The sensors either hung in the canopy or embedded themselves in the ground depending on type. About 80% worked after landing, and had a battery life of up some weeks. The sensors communicated with specially-equipped aircraft circling overhead. Picking up the successive pings as a vehicle passed a series of sensors.

The aircraft passed the data to a 20,000 square foot data center in Thailand with state-of-the-art IBM 360/Model 65 computers, a type also used by NASA. Analysts pinpointed the location, speed and direction of travel of vehicles, and called in airstrikes to hit them.

The attack planes arrived between 3 and five minutes after contact. The pilot never saw the target; They simply flew over the target domain and the plane’s computer automatically dropped bombs on the point the target intended to reach at its known speed.

“A major disadvantage of all ground sensors was that none of them were able to view the target or to transmit pinpoint locations to the attacking aircraft up to the moment of weapon release,” according to one report. “In order to overcome this shortcoming, large numbers of bombs were dropped on every suspected coordinate.”

Trucks destroyed on the Ho Chi Minh runway, many hit by the sensors of the Igloo White. . . [ ]

Igloo White earns a billion dollars a year and is touted as a triumph of the technological war. Its genuine effectiveness is limited. The program suffered a loss of credibility when the Air Force claimed to have destroyed more trucks than the North Vietnamese. And supplies, along with artillery and tanks, continued to arrive in the Viet Cong.

Even with abundant support, the available sensors simply couldn’t provide the required information. Modern military sensors are much more complex, and global advertising is catching up with or even surpassing them.

Modern surveillance cameras began to appear in the 1980s with the arrival of motion sensors capable of triggering the camera shutter. They were movie cameras, but they provided hunters and researchers with a way to see precisely which animals were trailing and when. They were soon followed by infrared versions for night detection. These gave an unprecedented ability to see what wildlife was in a given area.

Infrared-lit surveillance cameras make it possible to track nocturnal animals like this one. . . [ ] Hedgehog

Digital cameras were transformative for trail cams, storing thousands of images as well as video clips. Soon they were fitted with WiFi and by 2007 trail cams could send data over the cellphone network. Costs plummeted; for under $200 you can now get a camera that will shoot photographs and video, day and night, and send them direct to you. They are great gadgets for finding out what wildlife is stalking around your back yard.

And, just as a cheap camera drone than can see over the hill or around the corner becomes a useful military tool, so is a cellphone-enabled trail cam.

Cellphone modems have featured before in Russian drones, notably in some of the recent Shaheds which use Ukrainian SIMS. They are likely used to send back location data so the operators know which drones get through and which approaches are defended; in some cases they may also send back imagery of targets.

Personal cameras capture better photos during the day, but nighttime skills might be more useful.

Serhii Flash points out that on the trail camera drone, the antenna was not connected, so the unit likely would not have worked. He also says that the design of the bamboo is confusing; Possibly its purpose was to capture trees so the camera could look down from above, or possibly it would have been a stand that allowed the camera to see over grass or other vegetation. Manually placed trail cameras are fixed to tree trunks. or fence posts for elevation.

While the sensors of the 1960s required a relay plane and a PC center, the trail camera delivered via drones uses existing telephone infrastructure. It would be imaginable to block all telephone signals in the combat zone, telephones are an essential piece of equipment for troops on both sides and this may be impractical. New technologies, such as Starlink satellite communication equipment used on both sides for drones and other systems, are rapidly becoming more affordable and would most likely upgrade cellular connections if implemented. Not available.

Full image of the Russian trailcam drone

Instead of providing approximate knowledge like Igloo White, the trail camera provides a symbol to identify and locate the target. Game cameras have been used to monitor vehicle traffic, so an unmodified camera would likely be commercially effective. They generally reach twenty meters, but some long-range models reach sixty meters. The lenses tend to be wide angle, so they may not capture much detail at this distance. The drone delivery formula allows the operator to locate a track or address and position the sensor accordingly. With smart location, a trail camera can also seamlessly monitor all activities.

And although the drone’s battery only lasts a few hours, even when idle, trail cameras are designed to run for weeks. Some have solar cells to run indefinitely. The style presented here does not seem to have it, but even one day of data on enemy movements would more than justify the low burden of the operation.

Trail Cams can be used simply like Igloo White sensors, to prevent attacks on logistics vehicles using FPV drones. They could also be placed to monitor the effects of mines dropped by drones, so that immobilized vehicles can be destroyed and mined spaces cleared. They can monitor the trend of activity in enemy positions and note the number of troops coming and going, as well as when troop rotations occur.

Or it can simply be used defensively, placed in front of a position to stumble upon enemy troops trying to infiltrate.

Surveillance cameras can be detected and removed without problems (the threat of cheating can make the task difficult), but they can be replaced temporarily.

As with other advances (drone-launched caltrops and flame-spewing “dragon drones” that ignite tree lines with thermite), the trail camera drone shows how aerial mobility via drones can be combined with other technologies to produce impressive results.

If Ukraine does not already have similar or more complex versions of the same technology, it will soon have them.

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