Ukraine Transforms Sport Plane into Long-Range Strike Drone

Nynja Plane Crashes in Russia, 600 Miles from Ukraine Border

Ukrainian engineers have apparently converted another sport plane into a long-range strike drone, with one crashing inside Russia, reportedly more than 600 miles from the Russia-Ukraine border. This matches the depth of the first strike by a Ukrainian sport plane laden with explosives.

Photos Reveal DIY Drone Details

Russian propagandist Kirill Fedorov circulated photos online this week, showing the crashed unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) upside down in a Russian field. The airframe is an adaptation of the Nynja, available pre-built from Aerosor in Kyiv or as a kit for home assembly.

The Nynja has a range of 400 miles, a cruise speed of around 100 mph, and can carry a payload of several hundred pounds. Pilot Dan Johnson described the type as having “good performance and pleasant handling.”

Similarities to Previous Strike Drone

The Nynja is similar in shape, size, and performance to Ukraine’s other drone sport plane, an adaptation of the locally made Aeroprakt A-22. On April 2, at least one unmanned A-22 packed with explosives rammed into the Alabuga Special Economic Zone industrial campus, 600 miles from the Ukrainian border, damaging a facility that produces Shahed drones for the Russian military.

Drone Features and Capabilities

The wrecked Nynja sports a turret for an electro-optical sensor, likely a video camera, which may help a remote operator steer the drone into its target in the final seconds of flight. Autonomous navigation over a potentially six-hour mission is probably GPS-assisted.

The drone carries a 220-pound FAB-100 bomb on an underbelly hard-point. Carrying the explosive payload externally might suggest the Nynja drone could drop its bomb and return to base, making it reusable. However, skepticism remains about multi-use design, as the crashed drone was at least 600 miles from its base, likely on a one-way trip.

Cost-Effective Weapon

The Nynja drone may cost just a few hundred thousand dollars once equipped with sensors, communications, autopilot, and explosive payload, making it a cost-effective alternative to multi-million-dollar cruise missiles. Ukraine has little reason to use a Nynja drone more than once, as it can strike valuable Russian targets or merely bother officials, making it worth the cost.

Availability and Production

The number of Nynja drones Ukraine has is unclear, but various firms have contracted with the Ukrainian builder to produce at least 1,600 copies since 1991. According to pilot Mathieu Bourdin, it’s been difficult to buy a new Nynja since 2022, the year Russia widened its war on Ukraine, suggesting Kyiv is buying every available airframe to convert into explosive drones.

Ukraine’s transformation of the Nynja sport plane into a long-range strike drone demonstrates their resourcefulness in developing cost-effective weapons to strike deep within Russian territory. As the war continues, these DIY drones may play an increasingly important role in Ukraine’s defense strategy.

Featured photo: wrecked Nynja UAV discovered in a Russian field. Via Kirill Fedorov