- Zozulia drones have joined Ukraine's strike campaign targeting Russian logistics
- The goal is to degrade Russian units before they attack
- But the Zozulia and many other middle-strike drones lack explosive firepower
Yet another medium-range attack drone has joined Ukraine's escalating campaign targeting Russian logistics in the critical zone stretching from the contested gray zone as far back as 200 km.
Outnumbered Ukrainian forces use the middle-strike drones to degrade Russian regiments before they reach the front—hitting trains, fuel, and air defense up to 200 km deep. The Zozulia middle-strike drone pushes that reach to 1,100 km, but its 50-kg warhead is the ceiling on what the whole campaign can achieve: the drones lack explosive firepower.
Zozulia isn't exactly new: it first broke cover last fall. But its role in the counterlogistics campaign might be new. The 422nd Luftwaffe Regiment, part of the Ukrainian ground forces' 17th Corps, recently circulated images of its Zozulias in action.
In just the last week or so, Zozulias have ranged across southern Ukraine, striking Russian bases, trains rocket launchers and even a tugboat and a cargo ship. Together with Ukraine's FP-1, FP-2 and B-2 drones, the Zozulias are fraying Russian supply lines and the air defenses protecting them, and thus degrading front-line regiments before they can roll or march into battle.
The 170-kg, propeller-driven Zozulia is broadly similar to the more ubiquitous FP-2, although the FP-2 has a rear-mounted "pusher" propeller and the Zozulia's propeller is mounted on its nose. Both the FP-2 and the Zozulia share a similar display optimized for direct control by a remote operator, although both types also have satellite and unjammable inertial systems for navigation.
The big different between the types is their range and payload. The FP-2 flies around 200 km with a 100-kg warhead. The Zozulia flies as far as 1,100 km with a much smaller 50-kg warhead. The Zozulia gets much of its range from the extra fuel tanks in its wings, an innovation FP-2-maker Fire Point is adding to its own middle-strike drones.
Tiny warhead
If there's a problem with the Zozulia, it's the tiny warhead. Ukrainian industry has quickly developed a dizzying array of attack drones, including models with impressive range like the Zozulia possesses. But the fuel load necessary for such long range squeezes the explosive payload to the point that the farthest-flying Ukrainian drones usually carry warheads weighing just tens of kilograms.
While Ukrainian drones are striking more targets across occupied Ukraine and deep inside Russia, especially in the logistical zone, they struggle to inflict lasting damage. Their warheads are simply too small.
The FP-2 partially addresses the problem. With its 100-kg warhead, it’s among the hardest-hitting middle-range drones.
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But even the FP-2 really only works against fairly thin-skinned targets: unreinforced hangars, commercial-style storage tanks and residential buildings doubling as front-line bases, for example. It’s not unusual for the Ukrainians to hit even these relatively flimsy targets with several FP-2s in order to ensure their destruction.
Truly hardened targets brush off FP-2 strikes. When Ukrainian special forces targeted a Russian missile complex in occupied Crimea on or just before Tuesday, the video feeds from the attacking FP-2s depicted fireballs and flames on and around the presumably concrete-and-steel bunkers reportedly sheltering unused Iskander ballistic missiles. The videos didn't clearly depict any serious damage.
If the FP-2 can't bust a Russian missile bunker, the Zozulia stands no chance of inflicting any meaningful damage on a similar target. The Zozulia is helping intensify Ukrainian strikes on Russian targets in the logistical zone. But only certain types of targets.
The toughest Russian facilities are all but impervious to drone strikes. They're not impervious to strikes by Ukraine's much heavier and faster cruise missiles. But where Ukrainian forces launch thousands of middle-range attack drones every month, they launch only a handful of the much pricier, much heavier cruise missiles.
| Drone | Range | Warhead | Speed | Producer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Middle-strike drones (gray zone to ~250 km) | ||||
| FP-2 | 200 km | 60–105 kg deployed; planned upgrade to 158 kg | — | Fire Point |
| Zozulia | up to 1,100 km capable; deployed in middle-strike role¹ | 10–50 kg | 130 km/h cruise; 180 km/h max | Warbirds of Ukraine |
| Trembita² | 140–200 km | 20 kg | 400 km/h | PARS |
| B-2 | middle-strike class | 7–11 kg | — | undisclosed |
| Long-range deep-strike drones | ||||
| FP-1 | 1,000 km at current warhead; up to 1,600 km at lighter loads | 105 kg currently deployed; modular 60–120 kg | — | Fire Point |
| Sichen | up to 1,400 km | ~40 kg | 200 km/h | undisclosed |
| AN-196 Liutyi | ≥800 km confirmed; up to ~1,200 km claimed | 50–75 kg | — | Ukroboronprom |
| Bober (UJ-26) | 600–1,000 km | ~20 kg | 150–200 km/h | Ukrjet |
| AQ-400 Scythe | 750–900 km | 32 kg standard; up to 70 kg at reduced range | 144 km/h cruise | Terminal Autonomy |
| Jet-powered drone-missile hybrids | ||||
| Palianytsia | 650 km (claimed up to ~1,200 km) | ~100 kg | 900 km/h | state-funded consortium |
| Peklo | 700 km | ~50 kg | 700 km/h | Ukroboronprom |
¹ The Zozulia is capable of 1,100 km flights at full warhead, or up to 2,100 km at reduced payload, but the 422nd Battalion of Unmanned Systems is currently deploying it in the middle-strike role against Russian logistics within ~200 km of the gray zone.
² The Trembita is a pulsejet-powered cruise missile in the V-1 lineage, designed as a cheap saturation and decoy weapon to exhaust Russian air defenses—not a precision strike platform. Roughly $3,000–$4,000 per unit.
