Bober

The UJ-26 Bober ("Beaver") is a Ukrainian long-range, one-way attack unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) manufactured by the private company UkrJet. Development of the drone began following a December 2022 request from Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR) for a long-range platform. A crowdfunding campaign raised 20 million hryvnia (approximately $500,000) for its development. The first photographs of the Bober were published on 11 May 2023. The drone has entered mass production with a reported unit cost exceeding $100,000.

Design

The Bober features a canard aerodynamic layout with a teardrop-shaped fuselage, centrally mounted canard foreplanes, an inverted V-tail, and a rear-mounted pusher propeller driven by a piston engine. It has a wingspan of approximately 2.5 meters. The drone operates at a cruising speed of 150 to 200 km/h, has a flight endurance of up to 7 hours, and an operational range of 600 to 1,000 kilometers. A sensor package is mounted in the nose. Upgraded versions incorporate a thermal-imaging camera, a beyond-line-of-sight communication system, and a manual first-person view (FPV) control mode. While early iterations utilized landing gear, later versions use a catapult launch system to improve aerodynamics and range.

Armament

For its payload, the Bober carries an internal explosive warhead weighing approximately 20 kg, with the standard configuration utilizing a KZ-6 shaped charge.

Operational History

The drone has been deployed by Ukrainian forces during the Russo-Ukrainian War for strikes against targets inside Russian territory. Its first confirmed deployment occurred in May 2023, followed by a series of strikes on Moscow suburbs on 30 May 2023. In July and August 2023, Bober drones struck the IQ-quarter high-rise buildings in Moscow, and were potentially involved in earlier strikes on the Kremlin. On 9 July 2024, Bober drones targeted the Kapustin Yar missile testing facility. Russian air defenses engaged the incoming aircraft, while satellite imagery confirmed subsequent scorch marks at the facility.