Over the past few weeks, Ukraine's Odesa region has repeatedly come under attacks by a new russian long-range unmanned aerial system, named Banderol (russian for "wrapped parcel"). The few details known about this weapon were shared by Serhii "Flash" Beskrestnov, an expert in military communications, SIGINT, and electronic warfare.
The Banderol is known to be propelled by a jet engine developing speeds of 400 to 500 km/h. Beskrestnov notes no other specifications have been ascertained as of today, with the most crucial ones — range, warhead weight, etc — remaining obscure.
Read more: Straight Out of Sci-Fi: Tracked Combat Robot Armed with the Browning Machine Gun and Thermal Vision Is Now in Ukrainian Service
"Information about the one named like this has been around for a long time, but now we are seeing the first systematic instances of its use. Whether this product will be the same threat as the well-known KAB is not clear," the expert notes, with the "KAB" referring to guided glide bombs launched by russian tactical aviation.
Defense Express adds, the only mention of a drone named Banderol in the open sources appears on the War & Sanctions portal supervised by the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine. The source lists Kronstadt JSC and KT – Unmanned Systems JSC as involved in the production of the Banderol which is classified as a loitering munition. The graphic image of the Banderol drone on this website is purely for illustrative purposes.
The alleged manufacturers themselves don't mention the Banderol UAV on their respective websites. In particular, the unmanned systems catalog from Kronshtadt JSC only features Orion and Sirius UAS, and KT – Unmanned Systems JSC also doesn't list any product matching the description.
However, there was a notable message from Kronshtadt posted February 19, 2025, about the "successful test flight of a new unmanned aerial vehicle." The company announced that its drone had completed the mission and was ready for further testing. Yet, no specifics were provided about the system in question.
In general, russian armed forces use a variety of one-way attack drones with different specifications to strike Ukraine, including ones that carry no warhead and play the role of decoys to distract enemy air defense systems and force spending expensive interceptors.
Among them was an unusual UAV with a jet engine but a crude design holding together on door hinges, some details indicating its possible Chinese origin.
Read more: Which Drones Are Behind Regular Devastating Strikes on russian Equipment in Crimea?
