Putin should be worried about Ukraine's new kamikaze drone

For Russia, the biggest concern is that Ukraine can make these cheaply and easily. Press reports claim the drone used in the Rostov attack was produced by Ukraine or a was model available on the internet for less than $10,000. Airframes, engines, and guidance systems could all be bought commercially and assembled without too much technical expertise. The payloads are likely small and the drone can’t re-adjust if the coordinates are wrong, but it costs a fraction of its American and Turkish-made counterparts and can do millions of dollars in damage if it hits a fuel tank or sets fire to a docked naval vessel. Depending on the final unit cost, Ukrainian drones could conceivably be cheaper than the missiles Russia would use to shoot them down.

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For Ukraine, long-range Kamikaze drones fill a capability gap. Ukraine needs to use one of its few remaining ballistic missiles or risk a million-dollar drone like a TB2 Bayraktar to achieve the same level of damage from the front lines. President Joe Biden is famously reticent about providing Ukraine with missiles that can strike Russian territory out of a fear of escalation. The U.S. has offered MQ-1C Grey Eagle drones, but Ukrainian officials are reportedly nervous about accepting them on the basis that such a high-profile weapon might be shot down quickly if used near the front lines.

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