#Quadrocopter

[stochastique-blog]

Love you

Mini Drone, Quadcoptor, Drohne, Quadrocopter

#MiniDrone #Quadcoptor, #Drohne #Quadrocopter https://www.instagram.com/p/ByHfvQAl1B6/?igshid=18o50ankq8uek

[korrektheiten]

Drohnenangriff: Kiew-Operation verändert die Spielregeln der Kriegsführung

Tichy:»Kurz nach Mittag des 1. Juni begannen die russischen sozialen Medien, die Welt auf die bislang dreisteste Operation der Ukraine auf russischem Territorium aufmerksam zu machen. In der rund 4.000 Kilometer von der Ukraine entfernten ostsibirischen Provinz Irkutsk veröffentlichten Einheimische Aufnahmen, die zeigen, wie kleine Quadrocopter-Drohnen aus Lastwagen aufsteigen und auf einen nahegelegenen Flugplatz zusteuern, Der Beitrag Drohnenangriff: Kiew-Operation verändert die Spielregeln der Kriegsführung erschien zuerst auf Tichys Einblick. http://dlvr.it/TLBZPN «

[aktionfsa-blog-blog]

Der "billige Krieg"

Drohnen führen zu 70 Prozent aller Verluste

... auf beiden Seiten des Ukrainekriegs, meldete die New York Times (NYT). Damit ist es nicht mehr der Stellungskrieg wie im 1. Weltkrieg, den viele Analysten nach dem Stillstand des Frontverlaufs in den letzten beiden Jahren vorhergesagt haben.

Stattdessen werden auf beiden Seiten vor allem Unbeteiligte Opfer des Kriegs. Dagegen haben wir im Rahmen der bundesweiten Drohnenkampagne (mit 120 Gruppen und Initiativen) versucht gegen den Einsatz bewaffneter Drohnen zu argumentieren. Drohnen senken die Einsatzbereitschaft und erhöhen die Zahl der Getöteten.

Mit ihrer Aussage, dass 70 Prozent aller Verluste beider Kriegsparteien auf Drohnen zurückzuführen seien – und nicht etwa auf die große und schwere Artillerie, die einst die Schlachtfelder des Zweiten Weltkrieges dominierte, bestätigt die NYT unsere Befürchtungen. Neben der "Effektivität" sprechen für die Kriegsbefürworter noch weitere Argumente für den totalen Drohnenkrieg.

Zivile Drohnen sind leicht umzurüsten,

zivile Drohnen gibt es schon für rund 300 Euro,

die Panzerhaubitze 2000 kostet etwa 15 Millionen Euro,

für einen Leopard 2A6 sind rund drei Millionen Euro nötig.

Ukrainische Waffenhersteller produzierten im Januar 2025 20.000 Drohnen, in diesem Januar waren es laut "Kyiv Post" und "Forbes" bereits 200.000 Drohnen. Im ganzen laufenden Jahr will die Ukraine 4,5 Millionen Quadrocopter produzieren. 10.000 davon werden Monat für Monat "verbraucht" ...

Damit wird deutlich, dass die seit Jahren laufenden Gespräche auf UN Ebene zur Ächtung autonomer Waffensysteme ungeheuer wichtig sind und ein Verbot solcher Waffen international vereinbart wird. Uns ist natürlich auch bewusst, dass bei ähnlichen Verboten (Atomwaffen, Bio- oder Chemiewaffen) meist die wichtigsten Staaten, wie die USA und Russland nicht dabei sind - der Druck muss also weiter erhöht werden.

Mehr dazu bei https://www.t-online.de/nachrichten/ausland/internationale-politik/id_100697480/ukraine-drohnen-veraendern-krieg-und-machen-china-zum-problem.html und Internationale Gemeinschaft scheitert bei autonomen Waffen https://www.zeit.de/politik/ausland/2021-12/un-waffenkonvention-autonome-waffen-killerroboter-konferenz-genf

Kategorie[21]: Unsere Themen in der Presse Short-Link dieser Seite: a-fsa.de/d/3Hi Link zu dieser Seite: https://www.aktion-freiheitstattangst.org/de/articles/9166-20250527-der-billige-krieg.html

[cyberbenb]

Inside the new drone schools teaching the next generation of Ukrainian UAV pilots

Ukraine’s drone wizardry has drawn the attention of militaries around the world.

In addition to an ever-growing drone industry, the rise of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has necessitated new education. Since 2022, a crop of drone schools has popped up around Ukraine to train drone pilots to fight back against Russia’s invasion.

One of the latest graduates is Vladyslav, a fresh recruit in Ukraine’s military who asked not to be identified by last name due to security concerns. Out in the fields of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast on the western edge of the Donbas, Vladyslav is taking his final exam after a four-week course at one such school, this one specializing in intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, or ISR drones.

Landing the fixed-wing drone is the hardest part. Unlike quadrocopters or other vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft models, Vladyslav has to bring in a Leleka 100 — “leleka” meaning “stork” in English — drone at speed, which endangers the camera, the most expensive part of any reconnaissance drone. The Leleka’s camera is in its nose, meaning pilots have to angle up right before the drone touches down.

It’s a lesson Vladyslav has had four weeks to absorb.

“The wind took it away a little bit — there’s more wind when you’re higher up,” says Vladyslav, hoisting the drone over his shoulder after landing. “I messed up a bit, but it turned out fine. The camera’s intact, everything’s ok.”

In addition to various route mapping and GPS-jammed navigation, the final exam is especially heavy on take-off and landing. For take-off, one member of a team loads the Leleka 100 into what they call a catapult but what more closely resembles a slingshot, then walks it back before releasing it from over their shoulder.

The version that Nazar Zholinsky, another new pilot, is flying is a “dummy,” with a plastic case where the camera would normally be in the Leleka 100’s nose.

Zholinsky’s been in service for coming up on two years. Pre-war, he worked as a barber but started flying DJI Mavics — a line of Chinese consumer drones that became the first to see widespread use in the war — as a hobbyist five years ago, when he was 17.

Ukrainian soldiers prepare a Leleka 100 military intelligence drone for flight near Chasiv Yar, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, on June 10, 2024. (Jose Colon / Anadolu via Getty Images)

“I went in as a volunteer and said right away that I want to fly drones, that it’s something I know how to do,” Zholinsky told the Kyiv Independent. “They agreed, but then things turned out a little differently. And then here this opportunity came up and I was like ‘Hey guys, I’m going with you, we’re going to fly, we’re going to strike.’”

For his landing, Zholinsky manages to bring the dummy drone back down with a gentle thump on the two stout ventral fins on its underside.

A continuous stream of pilots in training passes through the field carrying and launching their UAVs. Others further into their exams show off an emergency landing with a parachute.

The main goal of ISR drones like the Leleka is to direct artillery strikes. The simulator program requires the pilots in training to find and strike Russian armored equipment and blindages.

For their exams on the training field, or “polihon” as its known in Ukrainian, the pilots run multi-hour missions from a camouflaged tent decked out with old carpets and two little wood stoves. Their instructors assign them buildings and vehicles in the area to locate and report coordinates on — but without actually calling in the artillery. The exams end up resembling a high-flying scavenger hunt.

The clubhouse atmosphere belies the fact that such training grounds often fall victim to Russian attacks, including one in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast at the start of March.

Most of the 42 students in ongoing classes are soldiers retraining from other duties. In total, Oleksiy says that the drone school has put out something like 3,000 pilots since launching, including 1,100 graduates in 2024.

The growth in graduates is a function of the increasing professionalization of Ukraine’s drone army, itself a product of both Ukraine and Russia thoroughly integrating drones into their militaries since the start of the full-scale invasion.

“If you don’t adapt, you won’t survive,” said Oleksiy of his own transition to the drone business after working for a retail electronics chain called Citrus pre-war.

A new weapons curriculum

Drone training programs have picked up steam since 2022. This one is run by Dnipro-based drone maker Deviro, which started up in 2014, beginning with the Leleka, and more recently adding a strike drone called the Bulava — the Scepter.

The school ultimately received their accreditation from the Office of State Aviation within the Defense Ministry in May 2023, said Filip Holovko, the director of the school. It was at the time the eighth in Ukraine, he said. The field today has around 60 schools.

“The better we train people, the better they’ll use our drones,” Holovko told the Kyiv Independent. An artillery spotter for the Ukrainian military from before the full-scale invasion, he joined DeViro in 2021.

He recently returned from a trip to Donbas to try out the Bulava, which has yet to start mass production. He says the unit he was with managed to destroy a Russian Buk air defense missile with the new strike drone.

Ukrainian soldiers train to fly drones at night using thermal vision in Lviv Oblast, Ukraine, on May 11, 2023. (Paula Bronstein / Getty Images)

Instructor trains Ukrainian soldiers to fly drones at night using thermal vision in Lviv Oblast, Ukraine, on May 11, 2023. (Paula Bronstein / Getty Images)

“Military training centers have a problem in their training. The instructors are unmotivated, there’s limited foundational technical knowledge, and there are very few of these drone complexes,” Holovko continued.

Deviro offers their training for free to drone buyers — almost all from the Ukrainian military. They take a loss on the school, but consider it a part of the complete kits they sell, which include a ground station and two or sometimes three UAVs that go for around Hr 10 million, or roughly $240,000. They’ve sold a total of 500 stations, Holovko says, with many more drones built to replace those that had been shot down.

Back at the school, another 40 students are taking a quiz with questions on the Ukrainian air codex and aviation regulations, as well as the classification of flights by altitude.

They spend weeks on simulators that replicate the standard set-up of an ISR system — two computers, one controlling the camera and one showing a map, featuring a navigator.

At a third computer sits an instructor, often Oleksiy, who sets up Russian equipment to locate and target, while also throwing chaotic weather patterns into the mix to test the pilots.

The simulator is proprietary software that replicates the experience of soaring through the cities of Melitopol, Kupiansk, and Bakhmut.

“If you’re in Melitopol, I mean, you have trees and houses and so forth. But if you’re in Bakhmut, the whole map is torn apart,” Oleksiy said, flying through the 3D rendered rubble of the city in Donetsk Oblast, destroyed during a nine-month Russian siege.

A Krasukha, a Russian EW station, appears in-frame. The pilot inputs the coordinates, initially failing to take wind speed and direction into account. The first strike misses to the southeast. With the second, the Krasukha erupts into digital flames.

Like in real usage, control of the Lelekas at take-off and landing runs through a separate system. Those simulators run at a separate bank of computers outfitted with controllers that look like blockier versions of those you’d find with a gaming console.

Ukrainian soldiers train to fly drones with bombs attached at a special school in Lviv Oblast, Ukraine, on May 12, 2023. (Paula Bronstein / Getty Images)

Post-war prospectives

The future of the drone business in Ukraine, which has boomed with wartime spending, is an open question in the event of ongoing ceasefire negotiations.

As has become a common refrain in Ukraine, Holovko is confident that “a full, all-encompassing peace between us and Russia will never happen.”

“As a father to my children, I would like to see all of this over today,” says Holovko. “But I don’t want to have given up seven years of my life with a weapon in my hand for (unfavorable ceasefire) conditions — I don’t want to do that.”

Holovko fears that Europe’s drone purchasing in any pending rearmament will privilege more expensive and less effective ISRs like the German Quantum Systems’ Vector or Poland’s FlyTronics’ FlyEyes, as opposed to Ukrainian makers.

“We have our own production in Ukraine that’s second to none of them, that’s actually proved itself much more,” Holovko continued.  

‌‌Note from the author:

Hi, this is Kollen, the author of this article. Thanks for reading. Ukrainians’ responses to Russia’s invasion showcase a society that is deeply resilient and inventive, despite pullbacks in aid. If you like reading stories highlighting those features from on the ground, please consider becoming a member of the Kyiv Independent.

10 Ukrainian drone makers to watch

In the three years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion, Ukraine has almost certainly become the largest producer of drones in the Western-aligned world. Early workshop tinkering on mainly commercial Chinese drones evolved into steadily more professional and massive production of domestic…

The Kyiv IndependentKollen Post

[elancholia]

Idealized current appearance with the greatest possible physical and mental capacities, longevity, and resilience.

Arms-race dynamics complicate it, i.e., if the world fills to the brim with hyperpowered quadrocopter spider robots with nukes, keeping the tetrapod represents an obvious vulnerability. Or if society in general just moves in a different direction and I want to keep up. But that's obviously against my first-order desires.

The transformation would not be permanent; you could always revise or reverse it later. If you would prefer to experience multiple forms across different categories, just choose the one that appeals to you most right now.

“Form” can include both your physical shape and the structure of your mind, how you experience the world, your sense of self, etc. I assume what people would prefer along the physical axis broadly with what they would prefer along the mental one, but if that’s not true for you, pick the option that describes whichever axis is more salient to your preferences.

Some of the ambiguity in the responses available is intentional; interpret them as the spirit moves you.

[blog-aventin-de]

Bei einem UAV-Angriff aus der Ukraine in der Region Kursk wurden fünf Menschen getötet, darunter zwei Kinder

Bei einem UAV-Angriff in der Region Kursk wurden fünf Menschen getötet, darunter zwei Kinder. Ein Quadrocopter habe ein Wohngebäude im Dorf Gorodishche im Bezirk Rylsky angegriffen, sagte der amtierende Gouverneur der Region Kursk, Alexej Smirnow. Fünf Menschen starben, darunter zwei kleine Kinder. Zwei weitere Familienmitglieder befinden sich in einem ernsten Zustand. Wann hat dieser Wahnsinn endlich ein ENDE?

[its-now-or-never13livelovelaugh]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Propel Micro Drone Ind/Out Wireless Quadrocopter NEW Beginner Skill.

[wachendlichauf]

Waffenhersteller baut Drohne mit Pistole

[gutscheindealde]

LS-MIN Mini-Drohne RC Quadrocopter: 73% Rabatt, Gratis-Versand https://www.gutscheindeal.de/deals/ls-min-mini-drohne-rc-quadrocopter-73-rabatt-gratis-versand/?feed_id=36&_unique_id=64d9f383cca19 LS-MIN Mini-Drohne RC Quadcopter 13 Minuten Flugzeit 360° Flip 6-Achsen-Gyro 21,38 € statt 77,71 € (Rabatt 73%), Gratis-Versand Dieser LS-MIN RC-Quadcopter ist eine tragbare und kleine Drohne. Es ist bequemer auf Reisen zu tragen und ermöglicht es Ihnen, überall hin zu fliegen. Die hochauflösende 480P-Kamera kann atemberaubende, scharfe und lebendige Bilder aufnehmen. Es bewahrt auch die feinsten Details und macht Ihre Kreation viel inspirierender. Der modulare Akku mit Echtzeit-Akkuanzeige ermöglicht einen langlebigen Flug von 13 Minuten. Schauen Sie während des Fluges in die Kamera des Flugzeugs und machen Sie entsprechende Gesten. Das Fluggerät erkennt automatisch und reagiert intelligent und unterstützt Fotos oder Videos. Sie können Fotos von Handflächengesten machen und Videos von Siegesgesten aufnehmen. zum DEAL #GutscheinDeal #Gutschein #Gutscheincode #Rabattcode #Deals #Couponcode

[peterjancic]

Posnetek, kako ruska raketa za las zgreši ukrajinski kvadrokopter

Po spletnih omrežjih kroži dramatičen posnetek, kako poskuša ruska vojska z drago raketo za protizračno obrambo sestreliti ukrajinski kvadrokopter. Ruska raketa je majhen ukrajinski kvadrokopter za las zgrešila, pokaže posnetek iz ukrajinskega “plovila”. This Russian “Tor” air defense system targeted an Ukrainian quadrocopter but the 9K330/9K331 rocket narrowly misses the target.Source:…

[moreqi]

A little bit off topic: I got a used drone a few days ago. This thing is really cool and as soon as I am a little more familiar with it you can definitely enjoy some cool shots here 😊 Have you ever tried to flight such a thing? #quadrocopter #yuneec #typhoonq5004k #drone #dronephotography #droneshots (hier: Kreis Steinburg) https://www.instagram.com/p/CRWpeWbloNb/?utm_medium=tumblr

[steblynka-draws]

Tarot of Nowhere, 2/?

- Quadrocopter

- Halo

- Sand and grass

[myrtille-muffin]

WHY IS NOBODY TALKING ABOUT THIS!!!

This is Russian cyberpunk, guys

This was made without any major company’s or government support. They used their own resources!! And it is GENIUS

Go support them!!!

https://youtu.be/8HZ4DnVfWYQ

[cyberbenb]

10 Ukrainian drone makers to watch

In the three years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion, Ukraine has almost certainly become the largest producer of drones in the Western-aligned world.

Early workshop tinkering on mainly commercial Chinese drones evolved into steadily more professional and massive production of domestic unmanned aerial systems (UAVs). The industry’s rapid growth has given Ukraine a fighting chance against a much bigger enemy, making drones a source of national pride.  

Details on the drone industry and its producers are hard to come by. Russia constantly targets weapons factories and even drone executives personally. But some drone makers are already clearly big businesses.

Based on knowledge both publicly and privately sourced, the Kyiv Independent has assembled a list of makers ranging from mass-produced first-person view (FPV) drones to highly secretive deep-strike UAVs that we believe to be the biggest game in town.

Going forward, many of these drone makers hope to sell their wares abroad once export controls are lifted, or the war comes to an end. Those looking to sell abroad are keen to headline non-lethal drone models like intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) or cargo drones, which face fewer restrictions than those more clearly designed to blow things up.

Here are 10 of Ukraine’s drone makers to look out for, in no particular order:

1. Vyriy

Key model: Molfar

Taking its name from a paradise in pre-Christian Slavic mythology, Vyriy produces what one long-time drone pilot describes as the best FPV he’s ever worked with, the Molfar. The small and cheap Molfar has been in use since at least the start of 2023. For massive  FPV makers, what’s tricky is producing swarms that function reliably. By reputation, Vyriy manages as well as anyone.

Molfar drone. (Vyriy Drone / Facebook)

The firm is working to onshore production but cites a continued financial dependence on Chinese components that afflicts the drone industry worldwide.

Notably, Vyriy’s drones operate on low-frequency channels. Prior to 2022, most drones ran on 2.4 or 5.8 gigahertz (GHz) communications. Those channels are easily jammed by Russian electronic warfare systems at the front, so many operators, including Vyriy, have lowered their frequencies to under 1 GHz, which transfers less data but goes further and is harder to both jam and detect.

2. Skyfall

Key models: Vampire, Shrike

Despite keeping a lower profile among its fellow major Ukrainian drone makers, Skyfall has brought production to a massive scale since launching in June 2022.

Skyfall’s most beloved model is the Vampire, which first became famous under the name Russian soldiers have for it, the Baba Yaga, named for a fairytale witch. The moniker is due to the drone’s ability to run night missions, particularly while bearing payloads of up to 15 kilograms — over five times the standard for FPVs.

Ukrainian soldiers from the Ukrainian military’s 121st Brigade load a Vampire drone with an anti-tank mine to target Russian positions in Krasnohorivka, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, on July 22, 2024. (Pablo Miranzo / Anadolu via Getty Images)

One of Skyfall’s biggest selling points is nocturnal navigation. It’s a feature largely enabled by thermal cameras like those produced by Ukrainian company Oko (which means “eye” in Ukrainian), and one that has proved especially effective as many Russian units reportedly lack night-vision goggles.

In drone footage from a Shrike — Skyfall’s smaller FPV model — shared with the Kyiv Independent by a Ukrainian drone pilot, a Russian truck stands out clearly from the treeline it is hiding inside before the Shrike hurtles into its grill before the signal turns to static.

Data from government contracts show the Shrikes selling for a little over Hr 13,000 in 2024, or about $320, making them some of the cheapest quadrocopters being purchased en masse inside of Ukraine.

3. TAF

Key models: Kolibry 7, 8, and 10-inch FPV quadrocopters

TAF is possibly the largest-scale manufacturer of FPV drones in Ukraine today, producing some 40,000 drones per month. Its output is valued at over $1 billion per year, according to Forbes Ukraine.

TAF’s drones are fairly standard cheap quadrocopters that flock over the front line in Ukraine. TAF emerged from a charity fund run by now-CEO Oleksandr Yakovenko, which was already producing drone parts to be assembled by soldiers by early 2023. TAF’s surge in production over the past year has been quite stunning.

Kolibry 7. (TAF)

If true, 40,000 a month would account for about a third of the 1.5 million drones that the Defense Ministry said Ukrainian makers shipped to the frontline in 2024. One billion dollars in orders would be a similarly massive fraction of Ukraine’s total drone budget — approximately $2.5 billion in 2025, not including money that individual brigades raise in donations.

4. UkrSpec

Key models: Shark and PD 2

By many accounts the archetypical Ukrainian drone maker, UkrSpec dates back to 2014, when it was founded in response to Russia’s initial annexation of Crimea and invasion of Donbas.

UkrSpec has produced many models over the years, but almost exclusively of the highly engineered repeated-use variety — specifically intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance.

The Shark, long-range ISR drone. (Nazar Korovai / Wikimedia)

The Shark is a long-range ISR drone that largely set the standard for the genre within Ukraine. The “People’s Drone,” or PD-2, is similar but can carry cargo up to 8 kilograms — in theory, anything including a few artillery shells — with a range of up to 1,300 kilometers.

5. Avia Atlon

Key models: Furia, Hrim (Thunder/Silent Thunder)

Avia Atlon is another firm that dates back to 2014. Its bread-and-butter model is the Furia, a long-range recon drone that the firm began exporting abroad prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion. They were selling the Furia for just over $100,000 in 2022, per the accounting of local charity Come Back Alive.

The most recent Furia model is a massive ISR drone that resembles a white manta ray and is specially designed to scout targets from up high for Ukrainian artillery.

Ukrainian 24th brigade’s A1-S Furia UAV. (Wikimedia)

Far cheaper is Avia Atlon’s Hrim, also known as Silent Thunder, which is a smaller kamikaze drone that remains more intricate than the average FPV drone of its class as it depends on a reusable quadrocopter for liftoff.

6. UkrJet

Key models: UJ 22 and UJ 26 (Bober/Beaver)

Another of the founding fathers of what would become Ukraine’s wartime drone boom, UkrJet shares some overlap in leadership with UkrSpec.

Unlike UkrSpec, UkrJet is most famous for its actual explosive models. Its Bobr, or “Beaver,” was the first of Ukraine’s major deep-strike drones, flying up to 1,000 kilometers inside of Russia.

UAV Bober. (Defense of Ukraine / X)

UkrJet is a project of Oleksandr Chendekov, who a competitor referred to as “the father of the Ukrainian drone.” Chendekov was chief technology officer at UkrSpec, UkrJet, and today, at Airlogix. Registered in 2021, UkrJet started public production of its attack drones in 2022, in the months following Russia’s full-scale invasion.

7. Terminal Autonomy

Key models: AQ 100 “Bayonet,” AQ 400 “Scythe”

Terminal Autonomy is a relatively low-profile, internationally owned, Ukraine-based firm that nonetheless ships upwards of 1,000 of its AQ 100s and an unknown number of its deep-strike AQ 400s each month.

At $30,000 and a range of 750 kilometers, the AQ 400s are likely the cheapest long-distance strike drones on the market. To cut costs, their drones are made of plywood.

AQ 400 Scythe kamikaze drones in an undisclosed location in Dec. 2023. (Terminal Autonomy)

The similarly wooden AQ 100s are kamikaze drones, likewise designed to be deployed en masse, affordably. In addition to wooden frames, their fixed-wing design means they only need a single motor, unlike quadrocopters which, while more maneuverable, require four.

8. Antonov

Key models: AN-196 Lyuty

The largest traditional aircraft maker in Ukraine, Antonov is often overlooked in considerations of drone manufacturers. Given its standing ties to Ukraine’s government-owned weapons makers, it had little reason to advertise.

Among drones, Antonov is most notable for its “Lyuty” drone, a long-range model roughly analogous to the Iranian-made Shaheds that Russia sends into Ukraine nightly. Ukraine’s long-range strike drones are typically tightly held secrets within Ukraine’s drone programs. But Russian sources frequently identify Lyuty drones as those striking local oil infrastructure.

Screenshot from a video allegedly showing the launch of AN-196 Lyuty. (X)

Long a government-owned defense manufacturer, Antonov formally transitioned into a private holding in April 2024. Its ties to Ukraine’s Soviet-descended, state-owned defense conglomerate, UkrOboronProm, remain well-established. The pricing on a single Lyuty comes in at just under $200,000 a unit.

9. Airlogix

Airlogix is a large-scale drone maker that has seen massive growth since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Pre-2022, Airlogix launched with a hefty cargo drone. After Russia’s invasion, they militarized their production. Their GOR model is an ISR drone that boasts four-hour flight times and sells for some $200,000 a piece, founder and CEO Vitalii Kolesnichenko told the Kyiv Independent.

Airlogix drone. (Airlogix)

Kolesnichenko says Airlogix has quintupled sales of the GOR in the past year, reaching 500 units shipped in 2024, which adds up to about $100 million.

Other sources say that Airlogix is also working on a deep-strike drone, but Kolesnichenko would not comment on details.

10. Skyeton

Key models: Raybird (various versions)

Skyeton’s Raybird is a hyper-advanced ISR drone whose latest models boast max flight times of 28 hours.

A Raybird system, which includes three separate drones, sells for over $1 million a piece. Total battlefield usage remains a mystery as military acquisitions are secret, but public records show Ukrainian emergency responders buying at least five of those systems since the start of the full-scale invasion.

An employee works on a Raybird long-range surveillance drone at the Skyeton drone-manufacturing company on Feb. 27, 2024. Skyeton is a drone-manufacturing hub for the Ukrainian armed forces, churning out unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to support the country’s defense. (Roman Pilipey / AFP via Getty Images)

Skyeton opened up production in Slovakia earlier in 2024 to escape wartime controls on Ukrainian military and dual-use equipment. The firm at the time claimed that the Ukrainian military was only contracting 50 of their drones annually, lamenting that internal production could have reached 100.

How Ukraine’s new drone-missile hybrids are changing long-range weapon technology

Ukraine has turbo-charged its long-distance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), making “rocket-drones” to compete with cruise missiles or save the trouble of asking for more Western-made ranged weapons. President Volodymyr Zelensky’s administration has been showing off the latest results, with videos…

The Kyiv IndependentKollen Post

[techniktagebuch]

2005 bis 2011

Fliegende Augen

Seit ich in der Lage bin, Modellflugzeuge nicht nur in der Luft zu halten, sondern ihnen zu sagen, wohin sie fliegen sollen und insbesondere auch dazu bringe, i. d. R. in einem Stück wieder am Boden zum Stillstand zu kommen, habe ich den Wunsch, mir die Welt von oben anzuschauen. Daher vertiefe ich mich zunächst in Online-Foren. Am besten gefällt mir vor allem anfangs das RCLine-Forum. Der Ton ist (meist) freundlich und die Tipps sind gut, die Verweise auf die Suchfunktion sind selten.

Als Modelle fliege ich entweder einen “Easy Star” (gleichzeitig mein Anfängerflugzeug), eine selbstgebaute kleine Piper Cub aus Depron (Isoliermaterial für Wände) oder einen Toro 300 (Nurflügler aus EPP, einem flexiblen Schaumwerkstoff). Empfohlen werden kleine leichte Kameras von Aiptek, anfangs die dunkle MegaCam, später der silberne Nachfolger. Sie haben den Vorteil, dass man relativ leicht Drähte in Auslösernähe anlöten kann, damit man über die Fernsteuerung Fotos aufnehmen kann. Außerdem ist ihre Bildqualität ganz gut. 

Ich habe die Halterung an den Modellen so angebracht, dass ich nach vorn oder auch zur Seite fotografieren kann.

Easy Star

Piper Cub

Toro 300

Damit gelingen mir ziemlich schnell Fotos von für mich befriedigender Qualität:

Ostbevern. Unten rechts in dem Doppelhaus hab ich mal gewohnt.

Teutoburger Wald vom Münsterland aus gesehen

Natürlich nehme ich meine fliegende Fotoausstattung auch mit auf Reisen, wie zum Fiat 500 Treffen am Backsberg bei Bremen:

Auch der Handel erkennt das Potenzial der “fliegenden Augen”, und schon bald werden (vermeintlich) spezielle Kameras angeboten, wie z. B. die FlyCamOne2. Sie hat ein klappbares Objektiv und durchaus ein paar sinnvolle Funktionen wie Serienaufnahmen und so, aber die Bildqualität überzeugt mich leider nie, schon gar nicht im Vergleich zu meinen billigen MegaCams.

FlyCamOne2

Die Fotos waren meistens verwaschen, unscharf und farbstichig:

Rummelsburger Bucht

Bis Ende der Nuller Jahre fliegen meine Kameras nur an Flächenflugzeugen. Dann baue ich mir meinen ersten Quadrocopter, inzwischen gemeinhin als “Drohne” bezeichnet. Es ist ein sog. Mikrokopter, den man durchaus mit etwas größeren Kameras beladen kann. 

Das setzt nur meistens ziemlich sperrige und kipplige Landegestelle voraus. Ich habe mich aber für einen gepolsterten Ring entschieden. Also suche ich nach einer flachen Kamera und baue eine Klappvorrichtung an den Copter. Die Kamera ist eine Konica Minolta Dimage X1. Diese kann ich über die Fernsteuerung unten aus dem Copter herausklappen. Vor der Landung klappe ich sie dann wieder ein, damit nichts kaputt geht.

Auch an diese Kamera löte ich wieder Kabel zum Auslösen an. Was man wo anlöten muss, habe ich einfach ausprobiert. Gegrillt habe ich die Kamera dann später erst, als ich sie aus Versehen mit 12 statt 3 Volt betrieben habe. Friede ihrer Asche!

Mit dieser Kamera und dem ziemlich ruhig fliegenden Copter gelingen mir auch bei diesigem Wetter recht schöne Aufnahmen, und zum ersten Mal rückt eine berufliche Nutzung in greifbare Nähe. Ich steige auf rund 70 m Höhe auf und fotografiere eine Kreuzung irgendwo in Brandenburg, die ansonsten nur sehr aufwendig zu vermessen gewesen wäre. 

Kreuzung irgendwo in Brandenburg

Aufgrund der schwierigen Rechtslage kommt es aber nicht zu weiteren professionellen Einsätzen der fliegenden Kamera. Ich halte auf einer internationalen Tagung noch einen Vortrag über Luftfotografie mit Multicoptern. Fotografiert habe ich dann erst mal genug in der Luft. Nach 2011 steige ich dann auf Videos um. 

Bei allen meinen Experimenten stand und steht immer der Spaß am Basteln, Bauen und Fliegen im Vordergrund. Die benötigten Teile habe ich oft in meinen Bastelvorräten, Kameras gibt es meistens günstig bei ebay. Leistungsfähige fliegende Kamerasysteme, bei denen man sich nicht nur darauf verlassen kann, dass die Bilder alle etwas werden, sondern auch darauf, dass man für das Fliegen praktisch keinerlei Vorkenntnisse haben muss, gibt es schon seit den Nuller Jahren auf dem Markt. Dafür muss man dann eben mehr Zeit für das Geldverdienen aufwenden, anstatt wie ich für das Basteln und Fliegen.

(Markus Winninghoff)