Ukraine has presented a new unmanned aerial system, developed and produced locally, called Peklo -‘Hell’ in Spanish-, whose first batch has already been delivered to its Armed Forces. The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyhighlighted this weekend its importance for the country’s defense and announced that the drone-missile has already been successfully tested in combat situations.
‘The Peklo (hell) unmanned missile is our combat-proven Ukrainian weapon. Today the first batch was delivered to our Defense Forces. The mission now is to increase production and deployment,’ Zelensky said in X.
The “Peklo” (Hell) drone-missile — our Ukrainian weapon with proven combat effectiveness. Today, the first batch was delivered to our Defense Forces. The mission now is to scale up production and deployment.
I am grateful to everyone involved in our defense production, whose… pic.twitter.com/MjIcWHgouZ
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) December 6, 2024
Peklo has a compact design, with fixed wings and two tail fins, similar to that of a cruise missile. Just like him Palianytsiawhich has recently entered a mass production phase, this weapon has been classified by Ukraine as a drone-missile. Beyond its definition, its capabilities are notable. With a scope of 700kmsurpasses long-range missiles like the ATACMS American, with a reach of 300 kmand the Storm Shadow British/French, 250 kmboth in use in the Ukrainian war. The maximum speed of the Peklo reaches 700km/h.
Although the specifications of the Peklo, beyond range and speed, have not been revealed, the published photos allow us to estimate that its length is somewhat greater. at 1 meteraccording to Army Recognition. Due to the compact size of the missile, the weight of the warhead is unlikely to exceed 50kg. This estimate allows it to be compared with a similar system such as Barracuda of Anduril. Although it is technically possible to increase the weight of the warhead, this would reduce the range of the missile proportionally. The propulsion system is a compact turbojet enginealthough its specific model has not been identified.
The fuselage consists of a few large sections, simplifying component installation and assembly of the Peklo. The motor is externally mountedso that its installation is simpler, internal space in the fuselage is saved and the need for air inlets is eliminated. It is a missile designed to be mass produced easily and at low cost..
The rear tail assembly is shaped like ‘V’ to save weight. The body also has a small air inlet, possibly for cool internal systems. In the nose of the missile you can see a pitot tubenecessary to measure air speed. This detail suggests that the Peklo’s navigation systems include inertial and satellite navigation and possibly systems TERCOM either DESMAC to compare terrain or images with reference data.
The images reveal the project logo Army of Drones on the missile, indicating its connection to the joint initiative of the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Digital Transformation, the General Staff, the State Special Communications Service and UNITED24 of Ukraine. This program, launched after the start of the invasion of Ukraine, focuses in the regular acquisition of drones according to military needs and in the training of specialized pilots.