Russian assault and sniper rifle manufacturer Kalashnikov Group, a Rostec subsidiary, has unveiled a new high-precision suicide drone, called the KYB UAV, on Sunday at the IDEX-2019 arms exhibition in the United Arab Emirates.
The new drone is equipped with GPS, allows it to precisely hits ground targets, delivering a small warhead to target coordinates.
This is a very accurate and most effective weapon, which is very difficult to fight with using traditional air defense systems, said Sergey Chemezov, head of Rostec.
“The explosive can be delivered to target regardless of how well hidden it is. It operates ‘regardless of hidden terrains, at both high and low altitude,” he added.
According to the presentation shown at the Kalashnikov booth, the KYB drone can travel at speeds of 50-80 miles per hour, with a 6.6-pound warhead and flight duration of up to 30 minutes.
A video shows the takeoff, flight, and destruction of the target with a KUB-BLA, a slight variant of the KYB.
“The drone was successfully tested and ready to go,” Rostec representatives told TASS during IDEX-2019.
Russia also claimed that is has started shipping Kalashnikov AK103, a third generation assault rifle, to Saudi Arabia under an arms deal signed between the two countries in 2017.
In the drone age, both US and Russia should fear the global proliferation of weaponized UAVs. More importantly, Russia strapping a small warhead to a drone that looks like it can be purchased on Amazon, suggests that small, weaponized drones on the modern battlefield will be the most feared military hardware in the next major conflict.