The Ukraine military has added a powerful unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to its arsenal. It's capable of flying up to 2,000 km, carrying a 250-kg bomb, and returning to base. The new drone could be the most potent reusable UAV deployed in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.
On Friday, the Ukrainian military's unmanned systems branch confirmed the UAV's development. "This is a unique development that changes the rules of the game on the battlefield," the branch said in a statement.
Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago, their engineers have been building drones that can fly longer distances. Recent strikes on Russian targets over 1,610 km away suggested the development of a reusable bomber drone, which was confirmed on Friday, Forbes reported.
The new drone's ability to drop a bomb and return to base means it can carry out multiple missions until it is eventually worn out, shot down, or crashes. This reusability could significantly boost the frequency and scale of deep strikes against Russian targets, particularly in light of recent attacks on bomber bases and oil facilities.
These strikes have raised the cost of Russian bombing missions against Ukrainian cities and reduced oil production in Russia, which is highly dependent on energy exports for state revenue.
Though the specific airframe used for the long-range drone remains unclear, photographic evidence suggests it may be a modified civilian sport plane. Ukrainian drone regiments have previously operated propeller-driven Aeroprakt A-22 sport planes, which are fitted with remote controls and an underbelly bomb rack. But these A-22s have only been used for one-way missions, crashing into targets like slow-moving cruise missiles.
Flying a drone using GPS and satellite radio is easy, but landing can be harder. Small drones can use parachutes, while bigger ones need a runway. Top militaries have advanced landing systems, but it's unclear if Ukraine is adding them to its cheaper strike drones, which cost a few hundred thousand dollars each.
This latest development is part of Ukraine's ongoing campaign to destroy Russian refineries, oil depots, and industrial sites that support Russia's war efforts.
The Volgograd refinery, hit by a Ukrainian drone attack, was one of the largest in Russia, Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine's Centre for Countering Disinformation, told Al Jazeera.
Earlier this week, Kyiv claimed responsibility for a strike on a Lukoil refinery in the Nizhny Novgorod region, east of Moscow. A drone attack last week forced a refinery in Ryazan, southeast of Moscow, to suspend operations.
On Thursday, a Russian drone attack on a residential block in Sumy, a city in eastern Ukraine, killed nine people, including three elderly couples.
