The Ukrainian officials have publicly released imagery of its newest kamikaze drone for the first time.
The unknown aircraft-type drone with an aerodynamic canard design was unveiled at a forum dedicated to the anniversary of the “Army of Drones” project.
The event was held in Kyiv on July 25 with the participation of First Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko, Vice Prime Minister for Innovation, Education, Science and Technology Mykhailo Fedorov, Minister for Strategic Industries Oleksandr Kamyshyn and Minister of Finance Sergiy Marchenko.
According to local media, this kind of drone was involved in attacks on Moscow. A similar configuration has been seen on drones used in a series of attacks on Moscow and Krasnodar in Russia.
Several canard-design drones attacked Moscow and the Moscow Region in May and last week.
According to pro-Russian media, aircraft-type UAVs weighing up to several dozen kilograms and featuring the canard aerodynamic design were used in the drone attack on Moscow. The combustion engine used in such UAVs enables them to perform quite lengthy flights, including the capacity to reach Moscow from Ukrainian territory, the expert said.
“This UAV model could have been created both directly in Ukraine – the country has specialists and the workforce capable of coping with this task – and could represent an imported civilian drone bought on the open market and adapted for combat use,” he added.
Alexei Rogozin, head of the Centre for Transport Technology Development, wrote in his blog that Ukraine used previously unknown UAVs, which are not amenable to the effects of EW – complexes “Previously unknown aircraft-type drones with a ‘duck’ aerodynamic scheme – the same ones used in the attack on Krasnodar on 26 May – have been used to attack Moscow. They are powered by a combustion engine and have a wingspan of at least 4 meters and a theoretical range of 400 to 1,000 km.
The cost can be estimated at $30-200 thousand for each vehicle. Radio-electronic suppressors of drones are generally useless for these devices, the only way to effectively counteract them is to shoot them down,” said Rogozin.