The Ural company Unmanned Vehicles unveiled a prototype of Russia’s first jet powered FPV kamikaze drone of the K-5 type during a major military exhibition at VDNKh, a reveal reported by DEA News. The event showcased how this unmanned aircraft was designed to operate at higher speeds and with advanced targeting concepts, signaling a notable step in regional defense technology.
Officials explained that the UAV is built to accelerate rapidly and sustain high-speed flight, enabling it to close distance quickly and engage targets with precision. The craft comes with autonomous capabilities that leverage artificial intelligence and computer vision to interpret thermal signatures and imagery, enhancing real time decision making in dynamic environments. This level of autonomy allows operators to plan missions and let the drone identify potential targets within a predefined area, reducing the need for continuous manual control.
Looking ahead, the developers intend to integrate a robust inertial navigation system that could eliminate the reliance on radio communications. In practice, once the UAV is guided toward its operational zone, the onboard computer would detect and highlight the target for engagement, streamlining the sequence from approach to impact.
The drone is equipped with a turbojet propulsion unit that enables a launch-to-impact range of up to 90 kilometers and top speeds reaching 400 kilometers per hour, with cruising velocities around 200 kilometers per hour. It carries a payload capacity of 6 kilograms, a balance of compact size and effective destructive potential. Notably, the entire airframe is built from Russian components, with the engine being the only international element involved in its assembly, underscoring local manufacturing emphasis and supply chain considerations.
Current testing is underway, with multiple systems and configurations derived from this platform scheduled to be demonstrated before year’s end. Industry observers note that such developments reflect a broader trend toward high speed optimizations and precision strike capabilities in unmanned systems, potentially influencing regional defense planning and rapid deployment scenarios.
In related reporting, a separate briefing from a Western publisher cited discussions about high speed strike drones under development elsewhere, highlighting ongoing global interest in unmanned aerial systems capable of achieving transonic performance. While those programs are in different stages and involve different design philosophies, the overarching theme remains clear: rapid, autonomous aerial platforms are expanding the tactical toolkit available to modern armed forces.