President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukrainian developers have tested a long-range drone with a flight range of 3,000 km. What opportunities does it open up for the Defense Forces?
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukrainian developers have tested a long-range drone with a flight range of 3,000 km. What opportunities does it open up for the Defense Forces?
«Today I held a Stavka. There were several questions, but the most important thing is drones. All types of drones that are needed. There is good news about long-range drones. Our drone has passed the test for 3 thousand kilometers. I am grateful to the developers and manufacturers. We are developing a line of long-range weapons that will help guarantee the security of our state,» Zelenskyy said on March 17.
As noted by «Military», such a drone can hit targets in Russia as far as Novosibirsk. In particular, it can threaten the largest in the Russian Federation Omsk Oil Refinery.
On May 9 last year , a Ukrainian long-range drone struck the Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat oil refinery in the Russian republic of Bashkortostan. At that time, the drone set a record by covering a distance of 1,500 kilometers from the border.
Later, the Defense Forces updated the range record to 1,800 km, striking the Olenya airfield in the Murmansk region.
It is currently unknown which drone Volodymyr Zelensky was talking about. In 2023, it became known that the aircraft of the AeroDrone company had successfully passed certification. At that time, it was about supplying the D-80 Discovery (80 kg) and E-300 Enterprise (300 kg) models to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
«If you install a 350-liter tank, the distance can be increased even to 3,100 km. You can vary here: the drone has a payload. Part of it goes to fuel, part to cargo. That is, depending on the goals of the flight,» said project partner Dmytro Shymkiv.
In his address, Volodymyr Zelensky also noted the use of Ukrainian Long Neptune missiles. «We can say that we are satisfied with the results of the strikes. But we need to produce more missiles, more drones, and we will talk about this with our partners in a week,» the President of Ukraine commented.
