DJI Mavic Series, Switchblade, Bayraktar, Golden Eagle and 18 more drones used by the Ukrainian army in the war against Russia

By: Maksim Panasovskiy | 01.07.2022, 00:56

Since the first days of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, we have heard and seen for ourselves how important drones are in modern warfare. Of course, Bayraktar TB2 comes to mind first when we talk about the Russian-Ukrainian war, but Ukraine uses a lot more drones, including consumer ones.

Bayraktar TB2

A lot can be written about this drone, but it needs no introduction. It was this strike drone that took part in the attack on the Russian warship Moskva in spring. On June 30, the UAV helped drive the occupiers out of Snake Island.

R18

R-18 is a Ukrainian drone of the Aerorozvidka organization. It can fly for 40 minutes and drop RKG-1600 grenades on enemy vehicles, which destroy T-72 tanks without any problems.

Autel EVO II

Autel EVO II is a Chinese consumer drone that can reach speeds of up to 72 km/h and stay in the air for 40 minutes. The drone is used for reconnaissance and fire control, but can also drop the VOG-17. A strong side of the quadrocopter is resistance to interference.

Skydio X2

Here we can simply copy the previous paragraph, replacing only the flight time and speed data. The American quadcopter has a speed of 40 km/h and flies up to 35 minutes. Dozens of drones were sent to Ukraine by the company itself. But volunteers also work.

DJI Mavic

Here the situation is identical. Volunteers massively purchase quadrocopters of the Mavic series in Europe and transfer them to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The day before we wrote Mavic 3 helped to destroy a lot of equipment and the headquarters of the Russians. But even for Mavic Mini weighing 250 g, a use was found - it can throw explosives at the enemy.

Golden Eeagle

Golden Eagle is an American drone developed for the US Army after Chinese manufacturers were sanctioned. The quadcopter flies at speeds up to 80 km/h and has an autonomy of 55 minutes. Like other consumer UAVs, it is used for reconnaissance.

Golden Eagle resembles a consumer quadcopter, but it's built to military standards with secure, encrypted communications. The drone is equipped with a thermal imager can navigate in space even if the GPS signal is lost.

UJ-22 airborne

UJ-22 airborne is UAV with a fixed wing of the Ukrainian company "UKRJET". It resembles a light aircraft, the Cessna 172, and is used for reconnaissance, surveillance, and artillery spotting. The drone has a speed of 160 km/h, stays in the air for up to 7 hours and can carry a payload of up to 20 kg. So far, Ukraine has used the UJ-22 only for surveillance, but the UAV can carry loitering ammunition with an RPG-7 warhead.

PD-1/ PD-2

PD-1 and PD-2 are Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles. The development of the first generation model began in 2014 after the annexation of Crimea. At the time, the Ukrainian forces lacked tactical UAVs. Ukraine uses them mainly for directing artillery fire and tracking the movement of Russian troops.

Fly Eye

Fly Eye is drone with manual launch by a Polish company WB Systems. It flies at speeds of over 90 km/h for two and a half hours. Poland has been supplying these drones to Ukraine since 2017, but little is known about them.

Quantum Systems Vector

Vector is german drone. You can read more about it here. The drones were transferred to Ukraine quite recently, so there is still no information about the results of the work.

Spectator

Spectator is Ukrainian-made drone. It can land on a wheeled landing gear or with a parachute. The State Border Service used for the first time spectator in 2015, and in 2017 he began serving in the Ukrainian army. The drone can stay in the air for 2 hours and accelerate to over 100 km/h.

RQ-20 Puma

In May, it became known that the Ukrainian military was using a drone RQ-twenty Puma (Pointer Upgraded Mission Ability) of American company AeroVironment. It can fly with the help of an operator or independently using GPS. The UAV got a camera with 6x zoom and works 2 hours without recharging. The cost of the complex is $250 000.

Tu-143 "Reys"

Recently, this drone broke into the territory of Russia, where, according to local authorities, it was shot down. The drone is capable of accelerating up to 950 km/h and carrying a warhead, although it was originally created as a reconnaissance aircraft.

PUNISHER

This is the cheapest, most compact and lightest attack drone in the world. With full ammunition, its weight is less than 8 kg. The maximum speed is 80 km/h. The radius of the combat mission is about 45 km. The drone is aimed at destroying command centers, and equipment that is not moving. The cost of a drone is $10,000.

Bayraktar Mini

Mini version Bayraktar is a multi-purpose UAV made of composite materials that launches by hand and accelerates to 111 km/h. Flight time is approximately 60 minutes. It is used for surveillance day and night.

"Leleka-100"

Leleka is the most popular military-grade small drone in service with the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The Ukrainian army has been using it since 2015, but it was officially announced only a year ago. According to experts, drones have made thousands of sorties in the Donbas. They are used for reconnaissance. The maximum speed is over 110 km/h and the flight time is 2.5 hours.

A1-SM "Furiya"

In 2014, a shortage of UAVs on the front lines prompted drone manufacturers to turn to producing equipment for the military. One of the most successful was A1-CM "Furiya" by Athlon Avia. It has a high resistance to interference, so it is able to work where other UAVs cannot fly. The take-off weight is 5.5 kg, the range is 50 km, and the operating time is 3 hours.

Quantix Recon

This is another drone from the company AeroVironment. He resistant to RF jammers, equipped with two cameras and flies for 45 minutes on a single charge. According to the manufacturer, this is enough to Quantix was able to scan an area of ​​1.6 km2.

"Valkyrie" 

The Valkyrie is another Ukrainian fixed-wing drone. The model is equipped with an electric motor and weighs 3.5 kg. The aviation complex includes three UAVs. The drone has a range of 34 km and can travel at a speed of 108 km/h. The battery life is 2 hours in good weather conditions.

Switchblade 300 / 600

Naturally, one cannot fail to mention the Switchblade 300 and Switchblade 600 loitering ammunition. They made a lot of noise in the spring, and now Russian propagandists report the destruction of such UAVs almost every day.

Warmate

And the last drone in our squeak is a Polish kamikaze Warmate. Monobank collected money and after consultations with the Armed Forces of Ukraine, he decided to purchase 40 loitering ammunition for $2,000,000. The control range of Warmate is 30 km. The maximum flight speed of the loitering ammunition in the attack is 150 km/h, and the cruising speed is 80 km/h. The warhead weighs about 1.5 kg.

For those who want to know more: