A New Ukrainian UAV: Hits Targets 2,000 km Away With A 250kg Bomb And Can Be Returned
5th Feb 2025
For the first time, the Ukrainian army has confirmed that it has a long-range UAV bomber capable of carrying 250 kg bombs and flying up to 2,000 km with a return capability. This was stated in a post issued by the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ Unmanned Systems Command (USC) on 31 January.
The Mysterious Air Warrior
Although the specific airframe used for the long-range drone remains unclear, photographic evidence suggests that it may be a modified civilian sport aircraft.
Information about Ukraine’s UAV bomber use first appeared in an April 2024 Forbes publication.
The wreckage of one of them was found on Russian territory almost 1,000 kilometres from the Russian-Ukrainian border. Experts determined from the photo that the combat drone resembled Ukrainian sports aircraft designs.

The pilot’s seat was modified to accommodate the electronic components of the optoelectronic station. This, along with the load, an OFAB-100 aerial bomb, hints that the drone is controlled in real-time, ensuring its accuracy.
According to Forbes, these drones, costing $90,000, travelled up to 1,300 km and struck a drone factory in Tatarstan, a missile research centre and a naval base crowded with warships, among other targets.
Who Is Behind The Nynja Mask?
According to one version, the glider is an adaptation of the Nynja drone, which can be purchased assembled from the Kyiv-based Aerosor company or as a kit that the buyer assembles at home.
The drone can travel over 600 km at a cruising speed of about 160 km per hour with a payload of several hundred kilograms.
At the same time, the Nynja’s shape and size are similar to those of another Ukrainian light-engine aircraft, the Aeroprakt A-22 ‘Foxbat’.

‘On April 2, at least one A-22 drone packed with explosives crashed into the industrial complex of the Alabuga Special Economic Zone (Tatarstan), 1,200 kilometres from the Ukrainian border, damaging part of the Shahed drone factory that produced them for the Russian military,’ Forbes recalled.
Another candidate for the Ninja role is the E-300 Enterprise, produced by the Ukrainian company AeroDrone. This bulky drone can carry up to 300kg of payload and travel up to 3,100km.
Initially, It was designed as a courier aircraft for fast parcel delivery and spraying fields in the agro-sector.

Ukraine’s UAV Bomber: From Single-Use Kamikaze To Multi-Use Missions
Previously, the Ukrainian military only modified these aircraft for one-way missions. Kamikaze UAVs hit their targets like slow-moving cruise missiles.
The new Ukraine’s UAV bomber could be reusable and the most powerful in this war. Its ability to drop a bomb and return to base means it can carry out multiple missions.
This reusability could significantly increase the frequency and scale of deep strikes against Russian targets.
USC also said in a published statement that operators of the 14th Independent Unmanned Systems Forces Regiment have been conducting strikes behind enemy lines for more than a year, travelling hundreds and even thousands of kilometres. There are already dozens of such missions, and there will be more.
‘This is a unique development that changes the rules of the game on the battlefield. Russian propaganda constantly claims about ‘shooting down’ such aircraft, but explosions at military-industrial complex facilities, oil refineries and ammunition depots tell a different story,’ USC noted.
The Crucial Role of Domestic Long-Range UAVs
Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago, its engineers have been building drones capable of flying long distances.
According to German Smetanin, Ukraine’s minister of strategic industries, Ukraine produced more than 30,000 drones in 2024 alone.
Ukraine’s production of reusable drones with FAB-250 bombs on board and other long-range UAVs will allow it to influence the enemy’s actions on the battlefield.
This is the strengthening of strategic influence on the enemy and its military infrastructure, on the one hand. On the other hand, it creates a so-called security cushion. Because regardless of what form and when the hostilities will end, Ukraine needs to have a large enough arsenal of long-range weapons to prevent any attempts by the enemy to continue or resume hostilities,’ says Bohdan Dolintse, an aviation expert and member of the public council at the State Aviation Service.
At the same time, the military does not disclose the number of Ukraine’s UAV bombers in service or additional details about their capabilities.
This is because many operations of the unmanned systems forces are not subject to public coverage due to their exceptional importance for strikes on the enemy’s strategic facilities.
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