By Vladyslav Smilianets and Max Hunder
KYIV (Reuters) – Ukraine showed off a new locally-produced “rocket-drone” on Friday which it said could fly 700 km (430 miles) – more than twice the longest range attributed to missiles supplied by Western allies.
The unmanned craft, called “Peklo” – which means hell in Ukrainian – is the second such “rocket drone” unveiled by Kyiv as it tries to increase its ability to strike deep into Russia, which invaded 33 months ago.
The drones could reach speeds of 700 kph, a representative from Ukraine’s state arms manufacturer Ukroboronprom told reporters at a ceremony where they were officially handed over to the armed forces.
No other details were provided and no evidence was given of the drone’s range or speed. Ukraine has released few details of its arms industry, citing concerns about giving useful information to Moscow.
Ukraine’s arms production minister told Reuters in November the “rocket-drone” could be viewed as something akin to a cruise missile, which flies low on a guided path to its target, usually below the speed of sound.
The drones were more than a metre long, with small wings on either side and two tail fins. US-supplied ATACMS missiles have a declared range of just over 300 km.
Russia has used thousands of long-range missiles and drones to hit military and infrastructure targets all over Ukraine.
Kyiv has sought the ability to strike back, but its allies until last month resisted calls to allow use of their missiles on targets deep inside Russia.
Ukraine has sought to balance the long-range strike gap throughout the war by launching explosive-laden propeller drones at targets up to 1,000 km inside Russia.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who was at Friday’s ceremony, said last month that Ukraine was developing four different missiles.
However, despite successful launches already having taken place, the missile programme has been plagued by global supply chain issues, Ukraine’s arms minister previously told Reuters.
(Reporting by Vladyslav Smilianets, writing by Max Hunder, editing by Andrew Heavens)
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