Running out of weapons, Ukraine mounts missiles on pesticide spraying planes to counter UAVs

According to a report by the Tysk intelligence hacker group from Telegram, a new video has emerged, showing one of Ukraine's most unconventional air defense solutions to date.

A Zlin Z-137 Agro Turbo agricultural aircraft armed with two R-73 infrared-guided air-to-air missiles.

A pesticide spraying plane modified by Ukraine, equipped with air-to-air missiles - Photo taken from video .

The imagery highlights Kiev's ongoing strategy of retrofitting existing civilian platforms into improvised military systems to counter the growing threat from low-flying, slow drones like Russia's Shahed/Geran-2.

This development also demonstrates Ukraine's ability to integrate old missile arsenals into new roles, in line with a broader trend of innovation in the air defense sector.

The Zlin Z-137, originally a Czechoslovakian-built turboprop pesticide sprayer aircraft introduced in the 1980s, was designed for low-altitude, low-speed agricultural operations, characteristics that now make it a go-to platform for intercepting unmanned aerial vehicles operating in similar flight profiles.

Zlin Z-137 Agro Turbo pesticide sprayer prototype. Photo: Zlin Industries

The variant seen in the video has been painted in military-style grey with white fuselage identification stripes to minimize the risk of friendly fire.

Its armament consisted of two R-73 missiles under each wing, supplemented by two internally mounted cylindrical stores, possibly fuel tanks or remnants of its original pesticide spraying role.

R-73 missile mounted on surface attack USV. Photo: Naval

The R-73, known to NATO as the AA-11 Archer, is a short-range, high-altitude missile with a seeker capable of engaging targets at angles up to ±75 degrees, giving it versatility against maneuvering drones.

The missile serves as Ukraine's main short-range interceptor on MiG-29 and Su-27 fighters.

More recently, this missile has been mounted on land and sea platforms such as the "Gravehawk" container SAM system, the improved 9K33 Osa vehicle and the Sea Dragon unmanned surface vessel.

Infantry fighting vehicles converted into self-propelled guns by Ukraine.

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