Ukraine produced more than 30 thousand "bomber drones" in 2024

Over the past year, the Ukrainian defence industry has supplied more than 30,000 bomber drones to the strike units of the Defence Forces. This was announced by Minister of Strategic Industries Herman Smetanin during the visit of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

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"Our enemies call them 'Baba Yaga' because these drones have become a nightmare for them. Working mostly at night, they inflict painful blows on enemy equipment and personnel. There are already dozens of bomber drones in Ukraine, and more than 30,000 units were manufactured last year," the minister wrote.

He added that heavy drones, in addition to strike missions, are used for remote mining and the delivery of ammunition, medicine, water and food to hard-to-reach places.

A bomber drone. Illustration: German Smetanin

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited stands with Ukrainian drones and talked to manufacturers. The politicians were presented with production models, including the Gore reconnaissance drone, the Avenger twin-engine bomber drone with a carrier for two FPV drones, multi-rotor bomber copters, and the R-34 heavy octocopter.

The R-34 has attracted attention for its unidentified munition, which looks like an adjusted projectile with aerodynamic surfaces. It is likely to use laser guidance or an optical target acquisition system based on machine vision algorithms. The drone has guides for four munitions, although the actual ammunition may be smaller due to the size of the projectile.

Earlier, the Russian military reported the use of laser-guided bomber drones by Ukrainian troops. In August 2024, one of these drones was shot down with a BK-3OF adjusted projectile, which has a notch to form fragments of the same size. The markings and serial number indicate that this munition is mass-produced.

Source: German Smetanin