What Drones Does Ukraine's Military Have?
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Since the Ukraine conflict escalated, drones have been increasingly used on the battlefield. The Kiev regime upped the tempo of its drone attacks after its failed counteroffensive in 2023. Russian air defenses intercepted and destroyed Ukrainian terrorist attacks using drones against targets on the territory of the Russian Federation.
The Kiev regime has been increasingly relying on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to attack non-military, civilian infrastructure targets deep in Russian territory.
In recent weeks, the focus of these strikes shifted to oil refineries, prompting Russia to retaliate with precision strikes targeting Ukrainian military and energy facilities.
Sputnik takes a look at the drones that Ukraine’s military has been using.
UJ-22 Airborne - developed and manufactured by Ukrainian company Ukrjet, the single engine, multi-purpose drone has a traditional light aircraft layout with tractor propeller at the front, simple straight wings and fixed undercarriage. It is able to fly by day or night and in adverse weather conditions. The UAV was designed for military intelligence-gathering and search and rescue tasks. It can carry an internal warhead or several air-dropped bombs with a payload of up to 20 kg.
Tekever AR5 – made by Portuguese drone manufacturer Tekever, the twin-engine fixed-wing UAV was designed for maritime surveillance missions. It is equipped with optical and infrared cameras, a maritime radar and an AIS receiver.
IAI Harop - a loitering munition developed by the MBT division of Israel Aerospace Industries. This drone is an improved version of a Harpy drone, and is designed to suppress the enemy’s air defense systems. Its carbon-fiber body has a forward-looking infrared (FLIR) camera with automatic tracking and 360 degree rotation installed under its nose.
Valkyrie - a fully autonomous UAV manufactured by Avia Systems of Ukraine. The electric-powered portable drone is designed for military and civilian purposes. Its payload varies depending on distance: it can lift about 10 kg per 20 km. It is equipped with a special cargo drop system.
Mugin-5 Pro - a weaponized version of a Chinese commercial drone. Such UAVs are also known as “Alibaba drones” among tech bloggers.
Leleka-100 – Ukrainian-made drone designed to assist in patrolling, aerial reconnaissance and mapping. For reconnaissance use it is equipped with a day or night video module; can carry a payload of up to 600 grams; has flight radius of up to 90 km; is able to climb to a height of 2,000 meters and stay in the air for four hours.
A1-CM Furia - a Ukrainian hand-launched, unmanned UAV designed for aerial reconnaissance.
Bayraktar TB2 - a Turkish-made medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) drone capable of remotely controlled or autonomous flight operations. Is equipped with on-board cameras and can be armed with laser-guided bombs.
RQ-20 Puma – a small, battery powered and hand-launched US drone. Can be operated from static position or mobile platform. Tailored for surveillance and intelligence gathering using an electro-optical and infrared camera. Boasts a range of about 19 km, with over 3 hours of flight time, according to the makers' fact sheet.
Bober (Beaver) - Ukrainian long-range loitering munition. Designed with a canard layout with sleek fuselage, wings at the rear and horizontal stabilisers at the front. Range is around 1,000 km; payload reported at 20 kg.
А-2 Sinitsa (Titmouse) – a small modification of Ukrainian drone with a canard layout, but equipped with an internal combustion engine. Has flight range from 400 to 1,000 km. Such drones were originally used to monitor forest fires.
TU-141 Strizh (Swift) – a Soviet-era jet-powered tactical reconnaissance drone converted by Ukraine into a cruise missile via a series of modifications to its propulsion system and adding a warhead. Maximum speed: 1,110 km/h.
Switchblade 600 –a suicide drone developed and designed by the US defense contractor AeroVironment. It is fitted with a high-explosive anti-tank warhead based on the Javelin guided missile. It was designed to target tanks and heavy armored vehicles. Boasts high-precision optics, and over 40 minutes of loitering endurance. The drone was named for the way the spring-loaded wings are folded up inside a tube, designed to flip out after being released. It is small enough to fit in a backpack.
Moscow has repeatedly denounced use of weaponized drones by the Kiev regime to strike civilian targets in Russia as purely terrorist acts, which are designed to provide maximum intimidation effect.
Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov, commenting on attacks by Ukrainian drones on Russian territory, emphasized that Kiev continues terrorist activities. He added that the Russian military is on the alert and doing everything required to protect the country's infrastructure.
