Ukraine’s kamikaze drones can now attack and return

Ukraine's Fire Point FP-1/2 one-way attack drones, designed to fly into their targets and explode on impact, now have the option of attacking and then returning to base to reload.

That's because at least one Ukrainian drone unit has equipped its propeller-driven FP-1/2s with underwing air-to-surface rockets. A video of an FP-1/2 firing a rocket has circulated online.

It's a surprise development, but potentially a welcome one among Ukrainian drone operators as they scale up their air campaign over occupied Ukraine and adjacent Russian oblasts.

For certain target sets, Ukrainian drone operators wouldn't need to expend their FP-1/2s. Instead, they could attack with underwing munitions and then bring the drone back for future use. Or an FP-1/2 could attack with rockets and then follow-up by slamming itself into the same target for maximal damage.

Reusability is appealing. The more often operators can fly their drones before the drones are destroyed, the more targets they can strike, overall. Ukrainian industry builds thousands of one-way attack drones every month; reusing some of them effectively increases the inventory—and at low cost.

🚀Ukrainian FP-1/FP-2 strike drone launching an unguided air-to-surface rocket at a Russian mobile air defense group during the overnight raid on Crimea.

The first known use of unguided air-to-surface rockets from Ukrainian aerial drones. pic.twitter.com/kpiiRbaLno

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) May 12, 2026

Precedent

There's precedent for this efficiency. Ukrainian deep strike forces have adapted Horynych E-300 and Aeroprakt A-22 manned sport planes into one-way unmanned attack drones by installing inertial or satellite navigation and stuffing explosives into the cabin or hanging bombs from underneath.

Apparently deciding the airframes are too expensive for strictly one-way missions (E-300s and A-22s cost between $250,000 and $450,000 brand new, depending on the configuration), some Ukrainian units including the Unmanned Systems Forces 1st Center have modified the sport plane drones to drop 250-kg bombs and then fly back to base for rearming.

The rocket-armed FP-1/2s are like much smaller cousins of the bomb-dropping sport plane drones. At just $50,000 a copy, the FP-1/2s are more expendable than the E-300s and A-22s are, but that doesn't mean some operators wouldn't prefer to sortie their FP-1/2s more than once.

There are constraints. An FP-1/2 can't carry a very big payload. The upgraded big boom FP-2 with wing fuel tanks is the most capacious of the Fire Point drones, and it carries just 158 kg of explosives.

Moreover, the unguided rockets that may be the FP-1/2's only armament are inaccurate under the best of conditions. They're likely to be even more inaccurate when fired by a remotely piloted drone whose pilot might be hundreds of kilometers away, seeing what the drone sees via a video feed with some degree of lag.

But if the Ukrainians keep innovating, the reusable FP-1/2 could improve. There are small guided missiles that could fit under an FP-1/2's wing.

Don't be shocked if the FP-1/2 continues to evolve. Recall that Ukraine's first drone boats were one-way models packed with explosives and with no external armament. But the Ukrainians quickly added rockets, guns, infrared-guided surface-to-air missiles and even explosive aerial drones to the boats.

Some of the weapons work best for self-defense. But others are offensive. A drone boat firing rockets or launching tiny aerial drones could attack its targets and then return to base to reload.

More FP-1/2s may soon do the same.