Source: TF1Info.fr
A dramatic screen capture from a video shot by a French TF1 media team for “Journal de 20 Heures” (“The 8pm News”) freezes the moment when an explosion of a Russian Geran-2 drone after being hit by the gunner bathes the aircraft in light. The story appeared on the news show on February 4, 2026 and follows a civilian crew flying a PZL M28 Skytruck equipped with a 7.62mm M134 minigun as they fly a mission to hunt down and destroy Russian drones.
The PZL M28, built by PZL Mielec, is an improved variant of the original PZL An-28, a license built Antonov An-28 (NATO reporting name Cash) utility aircraft. PZL Mielec, today, is the only source for the An-28 and its derivatives. The PZL M28 first flew in the summer of 1993 and has remained in production ever since for both military and civilian customers. Crewed by two men, the PZL M28 can carry 17 paratroopers, 19 civilian passengers, or 5,071 pounds of cargo.
Power comes from two Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-65B turboprop engines, each delivering 1,100 horsepower and each driving a Hartzell 5-bladed, reversible, constant-speed propeller. 602 gallons of fuel provide an operational range of 989 miles at an altitude of 9,800 feet with an endurance of 6.2 hours. Maximum speed is 221 miles per hour with a cruise speed of 152 miles per hour. Stall speed is 75 miles per hour. The PZL M28 can attain an altitude of 9,800 feet in 6 minutes with a maximum ceiling of 25,000 feet. Total length of the aircraft is 43 feet, a height of 16.1 feet, and a wingspan of 72.5 feet.
The M134 minigun, originally developed by General Electric in 1960, entered U.S. military service in 1963 and it remains in production in various forms to this day. It is a 6-barrel, air-cooled, electrically driven rotary weapon which is chambered for the 7.62x51mm cartridge. The six barrels allow for an unprecedented rate of fire (depending on setting, between 2,000 to 6,000 rounds per minute) by having one barrel firing, two barrels in the cartridge extraction phase, with the remaining three barrels being loaded with a round. As only one barrel is firing in a rotation cycle, it permits cooling of the other barrels. The M134 requires an external power source to drive the barrels with the most common being electric though pneumatic or hydraulic power sources could also be used. Muzzle velocity is 2,800 feet per second with a maximum range of up to 2 miles. The M134 is fed using M13 disintegrating linked belts pushed into the weapon via a feed chute. A delinker strips off the link prior to the round being fed into the M134. Ammunition belts are from 500 to 5,000 rounds each. Typical ammunition boxes hold 1,500-, 3,000-, and 4,400 rounds. Standard sights are iron post but optics can be fitted.
In the screen capture, the M134 is using an electric drive, the power cable visible just ahead of the rear spade grips. The ammunition feed chute is seen forward of the power cable. The L-shaped mount directly fitted to the M134 is standard U.S. military issue but the rest of the mount is custom built to accommodate the weapon within the PZL M28. The aircraft in the news story has 150 kills of which 115 are confirmed. During the filming of the story, the gunner scored five victories against drones. The destruction of the drone that resulted in the image was close enough to the PZL M28 that, upon landing, the ground crew found shrapnel holes in the plane's fuselage from the detonation.
