French broadcaster TF1 aired rare footage of Ukrainian forces using a civilian PZL M28 Skytruck aircraft, a Polish-modified version of the Antonov An-28, to intercept Russian Shahed-type attack drones during nighttime combat missions.
The twin-turboprop utility plane employs a door-mounted M134 Minigun capable of firing up to 6,000 rounds per minute against incoming aerial drone targets.
Ukrainian forces turned a PZL M28 Skytruck into a fixed wing drone hunting gunship, equipped with a door-mounted M-134 minigun.
The aircraft has already downed nearly 120 Russian drones. pic.twitter.com/oIbeh0fXbm
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) February 4, 2026
According to TF1, the aircraft is operated by a civilian crew who have volunteered to help the military defend Ukrainian airspace.
“It’s 2 a.m. There are targets in the air to the southeast. We, as pilots, are trying to fight these drones with our planes, shooting them down with a machine gun,” one pilot told the outlet.
“We try to catch as many as possible and shoot them down in a safe place – fields, forests – but never over houses,” the pilot added.
TF1 reported that the pilots’ plane was marked with kill counts, reflecting nearly 150 drones the crew has downed.
Fragments from a report by the French TV channel TF1Info about the downing of Russian drone kamikazes by the crew of a civilian aircraft PZL M28 (An-28) using a M134 machine gun. pic.twitter.com/0eBqduErLC
— Drone Wars (@Drone_Wars_) February 5, 2026
“We’re going from hunting drones to real air combat with these drones because they’re evolving so fast. They’re putting anti-aircraft missiles, air-to-air missiles, and so many other things on these Shahed drones that they’re currently testing,” one pilot told the news outlet.
According to TF1, the use of the civilian plane for combat operations is part of Ukraine’s broader push to find cost-effective ways to counter low-cost kamikaze drones. The first reports of the An-28 being used as a “drone fighter” surfaced in fall 2025.
Developed in the former Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic by the Antonov Design Bureau, the An-28 is a twin-engine light turboprop transport that first flew in 1969.
Originally intended as a short-range airliner for Aeroflot, it features impressive short takeoff and landing capabilities. Fewer than 200 An-28s were built, with the majority produced in Poland by PZL-Mielec, which later developed an upgraded version known as the M28 Skytruck.
