The Bober (Ukrainian: Бобер, lit. 'Beaver') is a type of Ukrainian long-range loitering munition (suicide drone).

Bober
Role Unmanned aerial vehicle
National origin  Ukraine
First flight 2023 (2023)
Introduction 2023 (2023)
Primary user Main Directorate of Intelligence

In December 2022 the Telegram account Lachen Pyshe announced a public fundraising campaign called Hovor Khell, for a domestic unmanned aerial vehicle for Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR). On 11 May 2023 it published photographs and said that it had already been used to accrue losses by Russian forces during the Russo-Ukrainian War. On 30 May, it was used to conduct a series of drone strikes in suburban Moscow.[1][2]

The drone reportedly has a range of 600 to 1,000 km, and its warhead is a KZ-6 shaped charge.[1]

This drone has been used during a number of attacks on Moscow. During July and August 2023 a number of drones struck the IQ-quarter high-rise buildings in Moscow two days in a row. Other attacks occurred in July and May, possibly including the Kremlin drone attack. Other drones have also been identified as being involved. However images appeared on social media in late July matching footage taken from other videos online. The Bober drone appear to have a rear-mounted pusher propeller and potentially has a sensor package in the nose. The drone was commissioned at the request of the Ukrainian military intelligence agency the HUR, who asked Ihor Lachenkov, in December 2022, for a "drone that can fly very far". His fundraising put some 20 million hryvnia (half a million dollars) towards its development. Images were released publicly in July and these images match footage taken by Russians over Ilyinsky, Moscow Oblast, on 30 May 2023.

These drones may be vulnerable to Russian electronic warfare which is often cited as having "suppressed" such drones. However, even if true, the drone will still crash into something with an explosive payload. The emphasis on the use of drones like the Bober go to a comment from the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said on 30 July 2023 that "gradually, the war is returning to the territory of Russia — to its symbolic centers and military bases, and this is an inevitable, natural and absolutely fair process". Russian milbloggers have also been critical of the lack of protection against such attacks.[2][3][4][5]

References

  1. 1 2 "Moscow Attack: new details revealed on UAVs used in incident". Militarnyi. 31 May 2023. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  2. 1 2 Triebert, Christiaan; Willis, Haley; Kovtun, Yelyzaveta; Cardia, Alexander (31 July 2023). "Ukraine's Other Counteroffensive: Drone Attacks on Russian Soil". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 23 August 2023.
  3. ↑ Tom Porter (1 August 2023). "Ukraine is using a new exploding drone to target Russia, say experts. But the 'Beaver' may have one major weakness". Business Insider. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  4. ↑ Pete Shmigel (1 August 2023). "Game of Drones for Second Night in Moscow". The Kyiv Post.
  5. ↑ Ron Popeski; Olzhas Auyezov; Alexander Marrow (1 August 2023). "Drone hits tower housing Russian ministries for second time in three days". Reuters. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
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