Ukraine unveiled a new “Bulava” kamikaze drone at the Eurosatory 2024 international exhibition in Paris. Defence Express said the Bulava is an analogue to a Russian “Lancet” unmanned aerial vehicle.
UAC, the Ukrainian-Czech company, showed the drone, also known as a Mace loitering munition, at the National Association of Defense Industry Enterprises of Ukraine panel.
According to its specifications, an X-shaped kamikaze drone has a powerful combined 3.6 kg heat-thermobaric warhead and can hit targets at a distance of up to 60 kilometers.
A drone can stay in the air for more than 50 minutes at a 100 km/h speed and is equipped with an electric engine. The wingspan is about 1.6 meters, while the fuselage length is about 1.5 meters. Bulava weighs 11 kg and has a maximum flight altitude of 2000 meters.
A drone can be piloted directly by an operator or via satellite coordinates. It features a communication module with an encrypted channel and a CRPA antenna resistant to electronic warfare interference.
The “Bulava” boasts high maneuverability due to its X-shaped tail and can strike targets in the least protected upper hemisphere.
Targeting is carried out through an optical station with day and night thermal imaging channels. The developers said that targeting can be done directly by an operator or a machine vision-based system.
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