Small UAS / Drones and related general thread - NOT Swarming ones.

Josh_TN said:
But I also suspect reprogramming target algorithms to engage zebra print is not especially difficult.
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Well Wes does go through all of the issues of using this dazzle-paint camouflage technic and how autonomous drones can use it against the Russians in his video.

On another note here's another Wes O'Donnell video about why Ukraine's best snipers have traded in their sniper-rifles for FPV drones:


Ukraine's most decorated long-range marksman put his tool down about eighteen months ago. His new job is helping a drone operator. When the Wall Street Journal asked him why, he said the drones are cheaper and they work better. That's the uncomfortable question every precision warfare school on the planet is quietly sitting with right now.​
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In this video: why the marksman was never primarily about the tool, he was a sensor first, and that's the job drones actually took, what the US Army told me when I asked them directly, and why the profession isn't obsolete but the myth around it absolutely is.​
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Video Sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/10...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...Xk-C9YVYarazDI/edit?usp=sharing&v=d60b4Z8HCYM
#Ukraine #UkraineWar #Military #Infantry #USArmy #FPVDrone #DroneWarfare #defenseanalysis
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Sineva said:
4 Engined attack drones.
Its almost like a ww2 air war in miniature.
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You know what, it is a no brainer to use distributed electric propulsion for this class of drone to improve efficiency and STOL performance.....

Someone needs to do this.... if no one else maybe even this forum!
 
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ISSOS WASP
TUBE-LAUNCHED UNCREWED AERIAL VEHICLE (TL-UAV)
The ISSOS WASP is a medium-sized, tube-launched, rocket-propelled unmanned aerial system designed to deliver rapid, real-time intelligence in demanding operational environments.
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https://www.issaerospace.com/wasp/
Standard System Specs.
Manufacturer: ISSOS Technology

Net Weight: 2.8 kg

Gross Weight: 4.0 kg

Maximum Payload: 1.0 kg

Maximum Wind Resistance: 18 m/s

Flight Time (no payload): Up to 30 mins

Flight Time (full payload): Up to 22 mins

Operational Range: Up to 45 km
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Ukraine’s Triada Robotics is developing a deep strike drone with a 2,000 km range. What is the company’s strategy?​

https://thedefender.media/en/2026/06/triada-robotics-bravo/
The company is developing two drones: Bravo and Kilo. The latter is a deep strike drone with a range of over 500 km. The drone will feature an internal combustion engine, be capable of operating without GNSS, and support target acquisition.
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Bravo is also a deep strike drone capable of carrying a 100–200 kg warhead and achieving a maximum range of 2,000 km. The drone’s cruising speed reaches 650–700 km/h thanks to its turbojet engine.
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The developer states that the drone’s design minimises its detectability. It also uses a self-learning model to plan routes for each subsequent UAV based on the experience of the previous one. Bravo can be launched from ground vehicles or naval vessels.
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Barvo
1782681799564.png

Kilo
1782681831174.png
 

Tobyhanna aims for capacity to produce 1 million circuit cards by end of FY-27​

https://insidedefense.com/daily-new...ity-produce-1-million-circuit-cards-end-fy-27
TOBYHANNA ARMY DEPOT, PA -- More than a year into Army Materiel Command's push to drastically increase its output of 3D-printed small unmanned aerial systems, one of the main production sites involved in the effort plans to scale up its output of circuit cards to a maximum of 1 million per year by the end of fiscal year 2027.
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Auterion , Ukrainian drone-maker Skyfall to supply 50,000 FPVs​

https://breakingdefense.com/2026/07/auterion-ukrainian-drone-maker-skyfall-to-supply-50000-fpvs/
The US defense company Auterion has signed onto a new partnership with Ukraine-based drone manufacturer Skyfall to supply the Ukrainian Armed Forces with 50,000 FPV drones equipped with autonomy software to strike moving targets, the American company announced today.
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PS: Don't quite get how 50,000 is twice 40,000 though??
 
It would not be unfair to say that Ukraine has more strike capacity than all of European NATO combined, at greater ranges. About all they are missing is a supply of mid range, high precision, high yield, penetrating cruise missiles (they have Stormshadow/SCALP but in what seems like very meager numbers). European inventory of Stormshadow/SCALP/Taurus/JAASM probably amounts to 2000-3000 weapon total, and I don’t think any of those is in current production in Europe.
 
Josh_TN said:
It would not be unfair to say that Ukraine has more strike capacity than all of European NATO combined, at greater ranges. About all they are missing is a supply of mid range, high precision, high yield, penetrating cruise missiles (they have Stormshadow/SCALP but in what seems like very meager numbers). European inventory of Stormshadow/SCALP/Taurus/JAASM probably amounts to 2000-3000 weapon total, and I don’t think any of those is in current production in Europe.
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They're maybe lacking a decent volume of BMs too but then so is the rest of Europe.
 
Forest Green said:
They're maybe lacking a decent volume of BMs too but then so is the rest of Europe.
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Exactly. Outside ATACMs in meager numbers with a few countries, I am not aware of any European TBMs. It seems likely that Ukraine will be producing its own well before Europe does.
 
Forest Green said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/2080321034805297401
View: https://x.com/FirePointUA/status/2080321034805297401?s=20

Fire Point FP-1​

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_Point_FP-1

Wing tanks have since been add to incrase range.
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There exists many different upgrades and variants of the FP-1 / FP-2 family. The most modern models are 3,400km range 40kg warhead and 370km range with a 200kg warhead. The shorter range variant is controlled via starlink like an fpv drone.
 
Forest Green said:
They're maybe lacking a decent volume of BMs too but then so is the rest of Europe.
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Ukraine is in the process of putting into mass-production FP-7 and FP-9 ballistic missiles (The design is derived from the Soviet-era SA-10/12 SAM) IIRC.
 
https://www.baesystems.com/en/product/t-series
Malloy Aeronautics designs and supplies all-electric uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) to both civil and military customers. Their range of uncrewed, heavy lift quadcopters are capable of lifting payloads from 68kg to 300kg over short to medium range missions. Malloy Aeronautics are a BAE Systems owned entity that form part of our FalconWorks research and development division within the Air sector.
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I can't help but feel the media analysis that the US is behind in Ukraine in drone production is missing a lot of points. The vast majority of those FPV drones are of the trashfire spam variety which are expended in massive numbers in Ukraine. Similarly huge numbers of such drones would not be very useful in the conflict with Iran and they don't have a particularly long shelf-life anyway so it wouldn't make sense to stockpile millions of them versus producing as needed.
 
And Ukraine armies lack mobility. (Good luck flying thousand of quadcopters/FPS drones each day with a FLOT moving several dozen of Km every days)
 

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