Some rival states are currently building visually similar flying wing kamikaze drones. The origins of the technology lie in a development by Dornier in the 1980s. Initially, only Israel pursued the concept further.

A US company has presented the Low-Cost Unmanned Combat Attack System (LUCAS), a new cost-effective wing-only drone that was developed to compete with the Iranian Shahed 136. The system developed by SpektreWorks is visually very similar to the well-known Kamikaze drone: both have a triangular delta wing shape and a piston engine for the propeller drive.

The LUCAS concept has a take-off weight of 70 to 100 kg and flies at altitudes of up to 5,500 metres. Like the Shahed, it supports rapid take-off from lorry platforms and, like the Iranian mini combat drone, is to be deployed in large numbers – each unit reportedly costs around 100,000 US dollars. It is a disposable weapon: the aircraft is also destroyed by the impact and explosion of the warhead it is carrying.

700 kamikaze drones in one night

The Shahed drones became known during the Ukraine war through deliveries from Iran to Russia and through replicas made there. These Russian Geran-2s now systematically attack civilian infrastructure and residential areas in Ukraine in nightly swarms. Russia has increased the number of attacks from around 200 per week to over 1,000 over the past year – last 8 July, over 700 drones were even deployed in a single night.

Russia initially began deploying the Shahed-136 with direct imports from Iran. The first documented deliveries took place in September 2022. Tehran initially denied the sale and later claimed that the transactions had already taken place before the Russian attack on Ukraine. The Russian replicas are now being manufactured in its own factories – according to reports, the country is currently able to produce 1,000 Geran-2s per month.

Russia is now working on modernising the delta wing aircraft. This is said to include a variant powered by a jet engine and therefore significantly faster – it has reportedly already been deployed and is based on a successor to the Shahed-136. Future models are to be controlled via SIM cards or Russian satellite internet in order to prevent interference with radio communications from the Ukrainian military.

Advanced Drone Anti-Radar

The roots of the crewless flying wing revolution actually lie in Germany in the 1980s. At that time, the German army and the USA had launched a project to develop a drone capable of attacking Soviet radar installations. The German aircraft manufacturer Dornier developed the 110-kilogram Drone Anti-Radar (DAR) with a range of around 600 kilometres. It was to be launched from special lorries, each of which could transport six weapon systems.

The DAR was technologically advanced for its time. It was able to recognise enemy radar missions and autonomously dive into a target – making it a forerunner of today’s popular kamikaze drones. Unlike the Shahed, however, no targets could be programmed into the DAR. The similarities therefore relate more to the design than the electronics, which have made disruptive leaps in the past 40 years, including AI systems.

The DAR was to be put into service with the Bundeswehr in the 1990s. However, the project was cancelled at the end of the Cold War. The story of the deadly flying wing did not end there: the state-owned Israeli company IAI took over the concept and used it to develop the Harpy drone, which is still successful today and, like its successor model Harop, is still manufactured and exported.

In the meantime, the German Armed Forces had also rekindled their plans for kamikaze drones: similar to the DAR, the Bundeswehr developed the so-called Effective System for Standoff Control in the Area of Operations (WABEP) together with Rheinmetall in the decade. However, it was to consist of two systems: The small “Target Tracking” (KZO) drone, which was already in service with the army, was to detect targets, which would then be engaged by a kamikaze drone from Israel’s defence contractor IAI.

German army catches up on development

According to the 2009 Bundeswehr plan, the Ministry of Defence wanted to procure two WABEP systems, each with 42 drones plus ground stations. The system was successfully tested but not further developed, as the Bundeswehr only planned to put it into service in 2019 and considered this date to be too late – a mistake, as became apparent in the war for Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020 at the latest, where Israeli kamikaze drones are said to have supported the Azerbaijani offensive extremely successfully.

Now the German army wants to catch up on the development, and tests of drones from German manufacturers are being carried out in the Ukraine war before procurement decisions are made. The Munich-based AI company Helsing has announced that, following an initial order for over 4,000 small kamikaze drones, it will deliver a further 6,000 units of its electronically powered HX-2 to the Ukrainian military – they are to be controllable by individual soldiers in a swarm.

Munich-based competitor Quantum Systems is also stepping up its military involvement in Ukraine and doubling its production capacity for reconnaissance drones in 2025. Quantum company boss Florian Seibel also founded a company called Stark for kamikaze drones, which is to produce in Ukraine. Donaustahl instead produces small warheads for to be mounted on any quadrocopter by Ukrainian units. The Lower Bavarian company also recently presented its own vertical take-off kamikaze drone for use in Ukraine.

Image: The LUCAS from the US company SpektreWorks without a warhead (US Department of Defence).