Timeout! Ukrainian Company Puts Rocket Launcher on a Drone

Yuriy Kasyanov of the Ukrainian company Matrix UAV introduced their new Demon drone in a public facebook post on August 17th describing the Demon drone as a shock multipurpose unmanned aerial vehicle capable of carrying one or two RPGs of the RPG-22/26 family. Kasyanov added that while the first prototype of the Demon UAV is fitted with the RPG-26 grenade launcher, it can also be fitted with a RPG-7 grenade launcher, small arms; carrying a bomb load up to 5 kg weight capacity.

The configuration of drone with a grenade launcher is designed to pre-empt ambush on armoured vehicles, firing points, air defence systems and enemy headquarters at distances up to 10 km.

In the kamikaze version or loitering munition, the new Demon UAV can strike at a distance of up to 20 km with a warhead weighing up to 7 kg. In a hybrid version, it is capable of hitting a target at a distance of up to 90 km.

Matrix UAV Demon drone. Image Credit: Matrix UAV

In another Demon modification an RPG is attached to the fuselage. In the same facebook post, Kasyanov elaborated operational roles for the Demon like the possibility of a one-way option for the Demon- taking a 15-pound payload of explosives and crashing into a target up to 12 miles away, detonating like a missile. With a hybrid engine and an explosive payload half the size, Kasyanov projects a range of up to 55 miles for this drone, which could help mitigate drone attacks like the recent one in Venezuela.

Matrix UAV Demon drone. Image Credit: Matrix UAV

Kyiv-based Matrix UAV  company has also been developing a family of multipurpose UAVs for reconnaissance and monitoring of roads, borders, forests, and waterways, detect targets in the battlefield, traffic, state borders.

Its UAV KATANA is a lightweight multi-purpose UAV designed for operation in daylight, night time and also in adverse weather conditions with a wind speed up to 14 meters per second. This simple and reliable drone initially designed for military intelligence is now successfully used in agriculture and for security purposes.

Matrix UAV’s Comandor drone, a gas-powered octocopter is a multipurpose tool for accomplishing wide ranging tasks from fire fighting to anti-tank weapon platform to battlefield delivery of medical supplies, patrolling of wildlife, monitoring city traffics or ground/water line borders, for military purposes as a flying weapon despatch, armed with various models anti-tank missiles, bombs, etc.

The Chimera-Т is Matrixs’ drone copter with multipurpose tethered platform that receives power from the ground module via a cable. This keeps the unit airborne for days; this continuous flight time of the platform is limited only by its electric motors capacity (up to 45 days of continuous operation) making it an excellent facility for video monitoring.