Recently, the Unmanned Systems Forces released a video showing operators of the Nemesis 412th Regiment striking two Tor-M2 air-defense systems. Beyond the operators' skill, the footage drew attention to the drone type employed in the attack.
The UAV appears to be a fixed-wing platform fitted with a thermal-imaging camera and a flat-panel satellite communications antenna (Starlink).
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These drones were first widely used by Ukraine's Defense Intelligence Prymary special unit, notably through a modernized variant of the RUBAKA UAV. Since early this year, Prymary unit has destroyed dozens of radars, SAM systems, EW systems, helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft, and other assets.
Intercepting such drones is extremely difficult for russian air defenses. RUBAKA is small, uses a Starlink terminal that reduces its vulnerability to russian EW, is piloted in real time by an operator, and can fly up to 500 km.
Systems like the Pantsir-S1 frequently attempt to shoot down RUBAKA UAV, but often miss; even close detonations usually fail to cause serious damage. In one attack, a RUBAKA reportedly survived the launch of five missiles.
Later, the upgraded UJ-26 Bober was introduced. It employs the same Starlink/thermal-camera package but carries a larger warhead and has greater range. RUBAKA UAV variants carry warheads of roughly 2–15 kg with a baseline range of up to 500 km, while Bober carries about a 20 kg warhead with a baseline range of up to 1,000 km.
A third type, the Lord UAV, has been observed with the same set of upgrades. Even in its baseline version, Lord reportedly achieves ranges of 750–2,000 km and carries a warhead of around 40 kg.
In addition to the Nemesis 412th Regiment and Prymary unit, these strike UAVs have recently appeared in the inventory of Ukraine's Defense Intelligence Active Measures Department. In total, such drones have now been confirmed in three units and are rapidly spreading following Prymary's highly successful operations in occupied Crimea.
All three UAV types pose a significant and immediate threat to russia's air-defense architecture — a fact proven by Prymary's successes in Crimea, where russian defenses are already showing severe gaps. Moscow even deployed an S-500 radar to the peninsula, which was later lost, in an attempt to fill those gaps.
These drones enable precise strikes against radars, SAM batteries, EW assets, and other systems at depths of hundreds of kilometers. Intercepting them is extraordinarily difficult. Combined with effective ISR, they could progressively "slice away" major elements of russia's air-defense network far beyond the front line.
One remaining question is whether Starlink will function reliably on UAVs operating deep inside russian territory. Alternatives such as Kymeta or Intellian's flat-panel satellite terminals could replace it, but their actual data throughput and performance at high speeds in contested conditions remain uncertain.
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