Ukraine’s Fixed-Wing Drones Could Become Tank-Busters

Big drones for hard targets

A Fire Point FP-1. Fire Point art.

by DAVID AXE

Relentlessly droning Russian troops and vehicles just west of Huliaipole in southern Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Oblast, the Ukrainian 237th Unmanned Systems Battalion isn’t just blocking a Russian offensive. It’s also working out a possible new anti-vehicle tactic.

A video montage of the battalion’s work, published on Oct. 30, depicts recent drone strikes on trucks, armored vehicles, and artillery. Most of the depicted strikes involve the usual first-person-view drones. But a few involve much heavier fixed-wing drones.

That’s unusual. Ukrainian units usually reserve their fixed-wing drones, including Fire Point FP-1s and FP-2s, for deep strike hundreds of kilometers behind the disputed gray zone. When the FP-1/2s and similar drones strike closer to the gray zone, it’s usually for so-called “middle strikes” on Russian supply lines.

Ілля Айзін@ayzin_illya

Мінус ворожа бронетехніка, артилерія та транспорт 💥 Пілоти 237 Окремий Батальйон Безпілотних Систем «Apachi» 7 корпусу ДШВ 🛩🦅🪽 продовжують знищувати техніку та особовий склад російських військ на Гуляйпільському напрямку.

2:20 PM · Oct 30, 2026 · 12.4K Views

---

2 Replies · 7 Reposts · 40 Likes

Fixed-wing drones aren’t normally involved in strikes on individual armored vehicles, and for one main reason: cost. An FP-1 or FP-2 might cost $50,000. After all, these drones weigh hundreds of kilograms, pack warheads as heavy as 158 kg, and range hundreds of kilometers.

By contrast, the tiny FPV drones that carry out most of the strikes on Russian infantry and assault vehicles in and around the gray zone weigh just a couple of kilograms, half of which might be warhead, and cost just $500 apiece.

In other words, the more expensive fixed-wing drones are for precise, destructive strikes on high-value targets well behind the gray zone. The cheaper FPV drones are for hounding hapless individual Russian infantry and vehicle crews as they struggle toward or across the gray zone. Expensive drone for expensive target. Cheap drone for cheap target.

But there's a problem.

Read the rest at Euromaidan Press.