Ukrainians have come up with a way to increase the range of the American-made Hornet kamikaze drone, which already has a range of approximately 120 km. The new system is currently being tested. Ukrainian specialists have come up with the idea of attaching Hornet kamikaze drones to a balloon and sending them to the launch site. The balloon is said to deliver the drone up to 42 km away, after which it is released. The drone's battery remains virtually intact, depleting no more than 5%. Thus, a Hornet kamikaze drone dropped from an altitude of 8 km significantly increases its target engagement range.

This specific method of launching a drone significantly increases its range of use in three ways: by increasing the balloon's flight range, by increasing the drone's drop altitude, and by preserving its battery's capacity.

Potentially, in the future, once this system is fully developed, this drone with an installed Starlink terminal will be able to hit targets at a range 1.5-2 times greater than that stated by the developer.

The Hornet kamikaze drone was developed by the American company Swift Beat LLC, which produces drones for Kyiv. It is an aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with a warhead weighing 4-5 kg (estimates vary), capable of reaching speeds of up to 200 km/h and a range of 100 to 145 km (precise figures are unknown). The drone is equipped with a target acquisition system with elements of artificial intelligence.

Russian media

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[–] azimir@lemmy.ml 2 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

This is brilliant. The ability to float long distances before changing to powered flight makes the system have a notably different behavior profile than a standard drone.

Slava Ukraini

[–] NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 1 points 17 hours ago

Now make a balloon that can reach all those oil facilities currently out of range.