The Ukrainian Army is now equipped with AQ 400 Scythe unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that can target strategic sites in Russian territory. The drone has an impressive range of 750km for a mass-produced UAV.
The Russia-Ukraine conflict has demonstrated the utility of low-cost drones in modern warfare. Ukraine had used US-supplied Switchblade drones to halt Russian aggression and even take out its most advanced T-72 tanks.
More recently, Russia introduced drones into its attack strategy with the Geran kamikaze drones to hit Ukrainian infrastructure. Whether these drones are developed by Russia or imported from Iran may be up for debate, but there are no doubts over their effectiveness. Experts questioned the absence of a similar weapon in Ukraine's arsenal, and with the AQ 400, this gap has been addressed.
Long Range AQ 400
The AQ 400 Scythe drones are built by Terminal Autonomy, the company formerly known as One Way Aerospace. The company's intent is obvious in its name as it does not design its drones to return to base.
The AQ 400 can also be launched using short runways or catapults, carrying payloads up to 32kg. The drone can cruise at speeds of 140km/h per hour. This is quite similar to Shahed's capabilities, but payload capacity can be enhanced further by compromising the range of the drone.
The drone has two sets of wings to deliver maximum lift, and their short stature allows multiple units to be stacked into a container for transport. Terminal Autonomy's innovation also lies in using milled sheets of plywood to make the drone's body, resulting in an approach that is much easier to scale than using fibreglass or 3D printing.
Cost-effective kamikaze drone
According to Forbes, the basic unit of the AQ 400 Scythe costs $15,000, which rises further depending on the technology it is equipped with. For instance, a laser altimeter enables the drone to fly at low altitudes of 30m, where counter-drone techniques such as radio jamming are ineffective. Tools such as inertial navigation or jam-resistant antennae used by Shahed drones are expensive add-ons for an expendable drone.
The other approach that an AQ 400 can take is to fly high at 3,000m, where tools to counter it, such as anti-drone missiles, are more expensive to procure for the adversary. The drone uses a visual positioning system instead of GPS for its terminal dive, making jamming a useless tool against it.
On its hit list will be Russian high-value targets such as ammunition depots, fuel centres, air defence installations, airfields, and command centres. However, for the approach to be effective, Ukraine needs the strength of numbers, which is precisely what the AQ 400 can deliver.
Without going into details, Terminal Autonomy says that it has delivered 50 such units to the Ukrainian Forces and will scale up production within the country to hit 100 units a month. From there, it hopes to reach 500 units a month by Q2 of 2024 and hopes to overwhelm Russian aerial defences with a low-cost kamikaze drone.