Russian armed forces have received a modernized version of the KUB-BLA kamikaze drone. The drone's optimized warhead ensures better performance.
Russia – According to reports, the first batches of the modernized KUB-BLA, also known as ZALA KUB or KUB-UAV, have already been delivered. The president of the Kalashnikov concern, Alan Lushnikov, gave this information to the intelligence service Ria Novosti known.
Russia optimizes drones: KUB-BLA drone with better performance
According to Lushnikov, engineers have successfully tested the improved drone, which is now “a new product.” The design of the KUB drone was changed and a more powerful warhead was added at the request of the Ministry of Defense. “The tests have been successfully completed and the first batch is now being delivered to the customer,” said Lushnikov. One of the main reasons for the optimization was the comparatively small warhead, which weighs only 3 kilograms. This would limit effectiveness against certain targets. According to the report, the KUB-BLA was fitted with an OFBCh-2.5 octogen (HMX) warhead, an explosive compound said to be 1.7 times more powerful than TNT.
The KUB drone is manufactured by the Russian company ZALA AERO, which is part of the Kalashnikov concern. The developers assure that the modernized drone can search for a target in the air at certain coordinates and then hit it while diving. The portal Defense Express According to the report, the KUB-BLA can reach a flight speed of up to 130 km/h and stay in the air for up to 30 minutes.
At this time, there is no published data to provide an accurate assessment of how much these improvements will increase the drone's effectiveness against targets. This is not Russia's first attempt to optimize drones. Previously published Defense Express Photos of a new, unidentified warhead used on Shahed-136 drones.
Inexpensive and deadly: Russia relies on kamikaze threats in the Ukraine war
Kamikaze threats are unmanned aerial vehicles that are equipped with an explosive charge. The threats fly towards their targets, among other things, in a dive and at high speed and detonate on impact. Russia has relied on the use of this type of weapon since the beginning of the Ukraine war. So far, the army of President Wladimir Putin mainly Iranian-made drones of the Shahed-136 type. These are characterized above all by their cost-effective production.
This allows the Russian military to deploy a large number of kamikaze drones on a target and thus overwhelm the Ukrainian air defense. Particularly tricky. While the drones cost little money to produce, the Ukrainian air defense is forced to intercept them with modern Western weapons. This includes, among others, the Iris-T or Patriot systems, which are also supplied by Germany, and whose ammunition is significantly more expensive. (jek)
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