Ukrainians are creating their own kamikaze drone. The AQ-400 scythe is cheap and easy to produce

Military operations conducted in Ukraine have confirmed the great importance of drones on the modern battlefield. It is not only about large unmanned aerial vehicles such as the Bayraktar TB2, but also smaller devices, including kamikaze drones used as one of the means of air attack.

The Russians are successfully using Iran's cheap Shahed 136 unmanned aerial vehicles, and now Ukraine has shown a test flight of its counterpart of this aircraft. The AQ-400 Scythe is being produced in series, and ultimately, a thousand drones will be produced per month.

New recordings of the test flight of the Ukrainian kamikaze drone on the AQ-400 Scythe wheeled chassis have appeared online. The structure developed by an international company based in Kyiv, Terminal Autonomy (formerly One Way Aerospace), has already passed the most important tests. For now, however, the company's representatives have not commented on this information, so we do not know how exactly they turned out. However, it was confirmed that serial production of Ukrainian kamikaze drones is underway under the new contract, although for now, it is limited to 50 pieces per month.

Later in 2024 (Q2), production is expected to reach 500 kamikaze drones per month, and ultimately, it will be a thousand units.

Scaling in just one quarter is unrealistic.
Francisco Serra-Martins, co-founder of the company, comments.

AQ-400 Scythe drones are intended to be a response to the Iranian Shahed 136 unmanned aerial vehicles used by the Russians as one of the elements of an air attack on Ukrainian critical infrastructure. In November 2023, information appeared that the Russians are working on opening their factory of these cameras to increase their production and permanently include them in their arsenal.

Now Ukraine wants to make a similar move using domestic equipment that is cheap and easy to produce — the cost of producing one drone is approximately $15,000. Serra-Martins says the overall cost can be reduced by developing drone swarms — one advanced drone “guiding” nine cheaper structures to a designated target.

AQ-400 Scythe – a very simple kamikaze drone

The drone has two pairs of wings (one supporting wing at the front, the other at the rear), which ensures maximum lifting capacity with a minimum wingspan. The structure's hull is made of milled plywood panels from a network of furniture factories, which — according to Terminal Autonomy representatives — is more scalable for mass production than 3D printing or the use of fiberglass.

Another advantage of the AQ-400 Scythe drone is that it has been designed in such a way that it can be produced without skilled labor, making it easy to increase the number of drones available to the military.

The drone has a range of 750 to 900 km, which is an impressive result (large areas of Russia and the entire occupied Crimea are within its operating range), but to confirm this information, it is worth waiting for some successful actions using the new kamikaze unmanned aerial vehicle. The camera can use various engines (both domestic and imported), and its maximum speed is 140 km per hour.

The drone is armed with a 42-kilogram warhead, and the equipment will be primarily used to attack strategic targets, such as command centers, fuel and ammunition depots, air defense installations, and airports.

The AQ 400 Scythe’s development underscores a paradigm shift in warfare technology, harnessing the prowess of unmanned systems to deliver strategic advantages on the battlefield. The system’s streamlined production process and focus on cost-efficiency demonstrate Terminal Autonomy’s commitment to providing cutting-edge capabilities while ensuring a strategic, localized production footprint.