AQ-400 Scythe UAV manufactured by Ukraine (Photo: Defense Express).
Terminal Autonomy has released photos showing that the Ukrainian Defense Forces have received a batch of long-range suicide drones called AQ-400 Scythe.
According to Forbes , this is Ukraine's answer to the Geran UAV (Kiev suspects that the Russian Shahed bought it from Iran and repainted it).
Terminal Autonomy’s goal is to mass produce low-cost, yet effective UAVs. Under the new contract, they are currently producing Scythe drones at a rate of 50 per month, but will ramp up to around 500 by Q2 2024.
Terminal Autonomy hopes to be able to produce 1,000 UAVs a month in the future.
According to the manufacturer, their AQ-400 Scythe is a simple, cost-effective UAV. The compact design has two sets of wings, one forward and one aft, providing maximum lift for a minimum wingspan.
The drone’s body is made from plywood panels from a furniture factory. Terminal Autonomy aims to speed up production by using 3D printing or fiberglass.
Scythe has a range of about 750-900km, depending on the engine option. This distance allows the UAV to attack targets from a long distance, reaching Russian territory. Scythe has a flight speed of about 140-200km/h, and carries a 42kg warhead, equivalent to Russia's Geran.
Both Russia and Ukraine have used jammers to intercept enemy UAVs in recent years. Geran often finds its target using a combination of anti-jamming antennas and inertial guidance antennas.
However, the manufacturer also revealed that they will fly Scythe at an altitude of 3,000m so that any interceptor missile fired will be more expensive than the UAV. Scythe will only descend very low when approaching the target.
In addition, Ukraine also equipped the Scythe with a camera that helps the operator select targets to attack to increase accuracy. However, this option is only suitable when the UAV is still flying within the connection range, at which point the Scythe will be like a first-person UAV.
The basic Scythe UAV frame costs around $15,000 and increases to $30,000 with additional features like navigation. Meanwhile, the price of Geran is around $20,000-50,000 depending on the version.
Scythe can be used to “swarm” a target. A single drone leading a swarm of UAVs can swoop down and disrupt enemy defenses.
This mechanism is similar to Geran. According to experts, UAV attacks are effective because they often fly in large numbers. Intercepting slow-flying UAVs is not a challenge, but Geran still caused great damage to Ukraine.
According to one estimate, Ukraine could shoot down 80 percent of Russian UAVs flying at a time, but still let the remaining 20 percent escape. A large enough number of drones would overwhelm the defenses and, in the long run, the attacks would deplete the supply of anti-aircraft missiles.
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