Attack drones
Strike-capable unmanned aircraft
Overview
Fixed-wing unmanned aircraft configured for precision effect under operator control and the applicable rules of engagement. Represented to a market only once classification and the end-user-certificate chain are confirmed.
Precision effect under your rules of engagement, sourced from an independent maker so the capability carries no foreign veto.
Capabilities
- Autonomous UCAV for combat and ISTAR: direct-fire aerial precision with assault-rifle and grenade-launcher armament
- AI-based targeting with a low acoustic signature for covert engagement
- Grenade-dropping variant: 5–8 km range, 2 kg munition payload, 35–40 min endurance
- Operator-in-the-loop under applicable ROE
- Released only once classification and EUC confirm
Specifications
| Class | UCAV / armed unmanned aircraft |
| Role | Precision strike + ISTAR |
| Armament | Assault rifle, grenade launcher, grenade drop |
| Operating radius | Available under controlled technical briefing |
| Endurance | Available under controlled technical briefing |
| Take-off weight | Available under controlled technical briefing |
| Environment | Available under controlled technical briefing |
| Control | Operator-in-the-loop |
| Origin | Independent / non-aligned |
In depth
An armed unmanned aircraft
The catalogue classifies this product as a UCAV or armed unmanned aircraft, with a combined precision-strike and ISTAR role. It is a fixed-wing platform configured for precision effect under operator control and the applicable rules of engagement. The detail record describes an autonomous UCAV for combat and ISTAR, but also specifies operator-in-the-loop employment. The two statements describe different parts of the system. The aircraft can carry out its listed platform functions, while the engagement remains subject to human control and the governing rules rather than being presented as an uncontrolled strike capability.
Armament by configuration
The recorded armament options are an assault rifle, a grenade launcher and a grenade-drop variant. The catalogue describes AI-based targeting and a low acoustic signature for covert engagement. It does not present these as one universal loadout, so the armament has to be read by configuration. The grenade-dropping variant is listed with a 5 to 8 km range, a 2 kg munition payload and 35 to 40 min endurance. The broader specification gives an operating radius of 5 to 8 km by variant and endurance of 20 to 40 min by variant. Those figures are variant-dependent, not a promise that every aircraft carries the same payload or flies for the same period.
Strike and ISTAR together
The product record joins precision strike and ISTAR in one role. That means the aircraft is represented for a requirement that includes both aerial intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance functions and a controlled strike effect. The detail record names direct-fire aerial precision alongside the armament options. The catalogue does not add a separate sensor list or a claim about a particular target set, so the responsible reading is narrower: it is an armed fixed-wing unmanned aircraft whose configured role can combine ISTAR with precision effect. Any mission design still depends on the aircraft variant, payload and rules of engagement.
Operating envelope
The published take-off weight is up to 25 kg. The environmental specification is −25 °C to +60 °C, marked as variant-dependent. The operating radius and endurance are also given by variant, which is why the catalogue keeps them separate from the product's general description. These values define the published envelope without filling in unrecorded details about launch, recovery, altitude, datalinks or sensor resolution. A buyer assessing the aircraft therefore has a specific starting point for a configuration discussion, but not a reason to assume that one specification row applies unchanged across the assault-rifle, grenade-launcher and grenade-drop forms.
A controlled operator relationship
The detail record makes operator-in-the-loop control an explicit feature, and the exposition states that employment follows the applicable rules of engagement. That relationship is central to the capability as recorded. Targeting assistance can support the crew, while the person operating the system remains part of the engagement chain. The listed use is precision effect, not an invitation to remove the buyer's command authority from the decision. The product is therefore described in operational terms that connect aircraft, crew and rules, rather than as an autonomous substitute for the force responsible for the mission.
Classification before representation
The catalogue states that the system is released only once classification and the end-user-certificate chain are confirmed. The exposition makes the same condition explicit: the capability is not represented to a market ahead of that governance review. The recorded origin is independent and non-aligned, and the product is handled through one accountable channel. That does not remove the need for the buyer's own approvals or rules. It sets the order of work. Classification and end-user documentation come first, followed by a discussion of the applicable configuration, training and support. The published record does not claim a customer, deployment or certification beyond these stated controls.
Why Unstrat: the difference
Unstrat is the authorised global representative and distributor for this capability. It is already in service with a track record behind it, so you are buying something that has done the job elsewhere, not funding a first attempt. You are not the test bed.
Independent, non-aligned origin, with no political exposure to any major-power ecosystem.
One accountable team from first briefing through delivery and in-region sustainment.
Operator-in-the-loop control aligned to your rules of engagement.
How it reaches you
Related capability
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Procurement & sustainment
Classification and the end-user-certificate chain are confirmed before this capability is represented to your market.
Sourced from an independent manufacturer: no major-power disclosure rules or political conditions.
A single team responsible from first briefing through delivery: not a chain of foreign primes to integrate yourself.
Lifecycle support and operator training delivered in-region, building capability that outlasts the initial deployment.
Applications it supports
Capability comparisons
Questions buyers ask
What is an attack drone?
An attack drone is a strike-capable unmanned aircraft that delivers precision effect under operator control and the applicable rules of engagement. The Unmanned Systems Developer's line sits in the 25 kg class: a recoverable aircraft armed with an assault rifle, a grenade launcher or a 2 kg drop munition, flying 20 to 40 minutes at a 5 to 8 km radius depending on variant. These are fielded aircraft flown on task in heat, dust and contested spectrum, not laboratory demonstrators.
See: Attack drone variants, armament and enduranceHow strike UAS are employed in doctrine
Attack drone vs loitering munition: what is the difference?
A loitering munition carries its own warhead and expends it on the target. STM publishes a 1.4 kg anti-personnel or 1.1 kg armour-piercing warhead for KARGU, recoverable only when the mission is aborted. An attack drone in our class comes back after the engagement, because the armament is a rifle, a grenade launcher or a 2 kg drop munition rather than a one-way warhead. The recurring cost is ammunition instead of airframe, which changes the arithmetic once you expect more than a handful of engagements a week.
See: Side-by-side with STM KARGU and Bayraktar TB2Loitering munitions as a capability
How much does an attack drone cost?
We do not publish a unit price or a cost per engagement, and neither does either Turkish vendor we compare against. What you can compare today is the cost model: a warhead expended per strike against a returning aircraft that consumes rounds. Put cost per engagement including the munition into the contract rather than accepting a brochure figure, and apply that test to us as well as to everyone else.
Are attack drones export controlled?
Everywhere, yes. Strike systems are among the most heavily controlled transfers there are, and any supplier who tells you otherwise is not being straight with you. The Unmanned Systems Developer's attack drones are represented to a market only once classification and the end-user-certificate chain are confirmed. The difference from a major-power purchase is whose conditions apply: ours are commercial and stated up front rather than tied to another capital's foreign policy.
See: Effectors governed by classification and end-use control
Which armed drone suits battalion and company-level strike rather than theatre-level tasking?
A 25 kg class aircraft with 20 to 40 minutes on task is carried, launched and recovered by a small team, which is the scale most company and battalion tasks actually need. A 700 kg MALE aircraft such as the Bayraktar TB2 gives you 20 hours and a 150 kg payload, and it also brings a runway, a hangar, a ground crew and a fuel chain. Match the aircraft to the echelon that will task it, not to the specification sheet.
See: The 25 kg, 7 kg and 700 kg classes comparedMilitary drone classes explained
Armed UAV for desert heat and dust: what environmental envelope should we require?
Our attack drones are specified from −25 °C to +60 °C depending on variant, against −20 °C to +50 °C published for STM's KARGU. Those are the figures to compare, and they matter more in service than peak range does. The aircraft are built for heat, dust and contested spectrum because that is where they are flown, and the sustainment team sits in-region rather than at a distant depot.
Attack drone with a human in the loop for weapon release
The Unmanned Systems Developer's attack drones are operator-in-the-loop under the applicable rules of engagement, with AI-based targeting assisting the operator rather than replacing them. STM states that KARGU navigates autonomously while the strike itself is performed by the operator on the man-in-the-loop principle, so both designs can satisfy a legal review that requires human release authority. Ask each vendor to demonstrate the abort path in front of you, not to describe it.
See: Control model and release authority comparedAttack drone control and rules of engagement
Low-acoustic-signature drone for covert engagement
Our attack drones are designed with a low acoustic signature so the engagement is not announced by the approach. STM publishes a low radar cross-section design for KARGU but no acoustic figure, and Baykar publishes neither for the TB2. Acoustic detection is what actually gives a small aircraft away at short range, so make it a trial condition: fly the aircraft at the engagement altitude you intend to use and listen.
Can an attack drone work with our ISR and counter-drone systems?
It should, and that is easier when the same maker builds both ends. The Unmanned Systems Developer's strike, observation and counter-UAS lines are designed as one architecture, with the command layer coordinating them rather than three stovepiped controllers. Where a strike platform and a sensor come from separate procurements, integration becomes the buyer's problem and it usually surfaces during the first real engagement.
See: Precision effect inside a wider effectors programmeCommand layer for multi-agent missions
We already operate a medium-altitude armed UAV but cannot justify flying it for company-level tasks. What sits between that and a one-way loitering munition?
That gap is exactly where a recoverable 25 kg armed aircraft lives. It gives a small team direct-fire and grenade-drop effect at 5 to 8 km with 20 to 40 minutes on task, without the runway, hangar and crew a 700 kg aircraft demands, and without expending a warhead on every engagement. Keep the MALE aircraft for persistent theatre ISR and strike; add the smaller platform for the daily tasks that currently do not get flown at all.
See: Ownership burden of the 25 kg and 700 kg classesAttack drone specification summary
Our legal advisers require positive human authorisation for every engagement. How do we prove a vendor's system really works that way?
Do not accept the sentence in the brochure. Require a live demonstration in which the operator aborts an engagement after commit, and require the vendor to show what the aircraft does with the datalink degraded at the same moment. The Unmanned Systems Developer's line is operator-in-the-loop under your rules of engagement, and we will run that demonstration; STM publishes the same man-in-the-loop principle for KARGU's strike decision. A design that cannot show you the abort in a trial will not show it to a court either.
What should a defence ministry insist on in an armed drone contract before signing?
Four numbers, in the contract rather than the brochure: cost per engagement including the round, spares lead time in weeks, the licence authority for every future transfer, and demonstrated behaviour with satellite navigation denied. STM publishes GNSS-denied capability for KARGU and 10 km of range with an external antenna; Baykar publishes navigation by internal sensor fusion without GPS dependency for the TB2. We do not publish datalink range, encryption standard or GNSS-denied behaviour, and a serious tender should force us to state all three.
Our relationship with our current supplier state has deteriorated. What happens to armed drone support if the politics change again?
That is the question the last three years of export politics have made unavoidable. A strike capability that can be switched off from another capital is not your capability, and spares queues are ordered by the seller's own forces first when both need the same parts. The Unmanned Systems Developer's origin is non-aligned, so the transfer decision is commercial rather than diplomatic, and support is delivered in-region by one accountable team instead of routed through a national champion's depot schedule.
See: The sovereignty argument in fullCapability without a foreign veto
How do we work out how many armed drones a brigade actually needs and what they cost to run each year?
Start from expected engagements a week, not from a platform count. If the rate is low and the targets are high value, a munition that expends its warhead per strike is the right answer. If the rate is high, a recoverable aircraft that consumes ammunition is cheaper by an order of magnitude over a year, and attrition is replaced airframe by airframe rather than magazine by magazine. Ask every bidder to price a year of your actual tempo rather than a unit.
See: Three cost models, not three versions of the same thing
Can a non-aligned state buy attack drones from Unstrat without an end-user certificate?
No. Attack drones are represented to a market only once classification and the end-user-certificate chain are confirmed, and that gate is applied before any capability is marketed, not after a letter of intent. What we can say is that the gate is ours rather than a third government's, and that once the chain is confirmed the delivery, training and in-region sustainment come from one accountable team.
See: How effectors are governed before representationRelease conditions in the comparison table
Attack drones: questions
What are Attack drones?
Attack drones are Unstrat's Sky (Air Domain) capability: Fixed-wing unmanned aircraft configured for precision effect under operator control and the applicable rules of engagement. Represented to a market only once classification and the end-user-certificate chain are confirmed.
How do Attack drones work?
Attack drones deliver their effect through Autonomous UCAV for combat and ISTAR: direct-fire aerial precision with assault-rifle and grenade-launcher armament, AI-based targeting with a low acoustic signature for covert engagement and Grenade-dropping variant: 5–8 km range, 2 kg munition payload, 35–40 min endurance, capabilities matched to the requirement and confirmed under briefing rather than published.
Who makes Attack drones?
Attack drones are built by The Unmanned Systems Developer, whose focus is counter-uas, loitering munitions & unmanned aircraft. Unstrat represents The Unmanned Systems Developer to government and enterprise buyers worldwide as an independent, non-aligned prime vendor.
Who uses Attack drones?
Government and enterprise buyers acquire Attack drones to address foreign dependence for drones across the air domain, matched to the mission and accountable to them, not to a foreign vendor's government.
Why choose Attack drones over a major-power alternative?
Attack drones are sourced from an independent, non-aligned manufacturer, so they carry no major-power disclosure rules, upgrade-locks or political ramifications. Concretely: Operator-in-the-loop control aligned to your rules of engagement. The capability is accountable to you, not to a foreign vendor's government and its release schedule.
How are Attack drones procured, and where can it be exported?
Precision effect under your rules of engagement, sourced from an independent maker so the capability carries no foreign veto. Every engagement begins with a briefing, and export eligibility is confirmed per market under briefing rather than published. Where controlled capabilities are involved, the classification and end-user-certificate chain is confirmed first. Attack drones are then sustained in-region by one accountable team from briefing through long-term operation.