The drones air fleet Ukraine continues to grow. The latest incorporation has been the Merodeter ammunition long range FP-1presented during the commemorations of the Infantry day Last Tuesday. This platform is designed to Attack high value objectives and, according to the technical data presented at the event and verified by defense analysts of open sources, it can fly up to 1,600 kilometers and transport an explosive head of up to 120 kilograms.
Ukrainian defense officials indicated that the weight of the load can be adjusted depending on the reach of the flight, optimizing the drone for maximum load or for greater operational scopeaccording to the half mezha.
The vice minister of strategic industries Anna Hvozdiar has affirmed that ‘this drone It is already taking place in large quantities. There is a considerable interest on partners. This product was born in Ukraine and climbed very quickly. It is another thing that we can share with our allies. ‘ The Ukrainian-Chaca company UAC It is associated with its development.
These statements are aligned with the plans of the Ukrainian government by 2025, announced by the president Volodimir Zelenski at the end of 2024, who foresees The manufacture of at least 30,000 long -range drones in a single fiscal year.
FP-1 constitutes a strategic response to use by the Russian Federation of rear areas away from the front, logistics centers and C4ISR nodes (such as command centers, communications antennas, intelligence stations or surveillance platforms, essential to coordinate military operations) that So far they were out of the effective reach of the Ukrainian artillery or drones with less action radius.
Thus, with the appearance of FP-1, Russian critical infrastructure -Incluid facilities in Crimea, the occupied Donbas and even logistic lines within the Russian territory- that were not in the effective attack radius now they enter it.
The FP-1 stands out for being modular and, apparently, Use available commercial componentswhich makes it accessible and adaptable to different military operations. It does not have a conventional landing train and is launched with the help of a propeller rocket mounted in the fuselage. This deployment method eliminates the need for a track and reduces structural complexity and weight associated with retractable landing systems.
According to Army Collection, drone It has already been used operationally before its public presentation, with fragments identified in the Russian regions of Saratov, Moscow, Vorónezh, Kaluga and Tula After the attacks of January 24 and March 11, 2025. In these cases, it was reported that the unmanned plane was equipped with A highly explosive fragmentation eye of 60 kgcomplemented with TNT -based loads.
Analysts point out that it could incorporate Navigation with monitoring of the land, operating capacity without GNSS (global positioning systems) and encrypted telemetrynecessary capabilities to evade Russian anti -aircraft systems S-300/400 and electronic warfare systems deployed by Russia.