Since the start of the war between Ukraine and Russia, Ukraine has faced many problems with the military, the most critical of which is that the Ukrainian army lacks sustained long-range strike capabilities, making it difficult to effectively threaten deep targets in Russia. Although this problem has been alleviated after Ukraine received the American-made "Hippocampus" rocket launchers, Army Tactical Missiles (ATACMS), British-made "Storm Shadow" and French-made "Scarp" cruise missiles, as well as some long-range drones, these advanced** need to rely on imports, making Ukraine fall into a state of dependence.
To solve this problem, Ukraine has been trying to find its own design and production of ** that can be used in long-range strikes. Until recently, that is, when the Russian-Ukrainian conflict entered 700 days, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine announced the receipt of a new batch of drones, the model AQ 400 "Scythe". The drone's crude shape, sometimes translated as "Death Scythe", resembles the scythe in the hands of the Grim Reaper in Western film and television dramas, and is expected to harvest the lives of Russians.
The "Scythe" drone has a rectangular fuselage, and while the drag-reducing design isn't perfect, this boxy design is easier to produce, given its low flight speed and the need to reduce manufacturing costs. Interestingly, despite its rudimentary appearance, the drone has a "lift-up" layout with a pair of slightly shorter front wings and downward-extending stabilizers to improve short-range take-off and landing capabilities and flight stability.
Regarding the power system, Ukraine has chosen a piston gasoline engine similar to the "Witness"-136 supplied by Iran to Russia, making this peculiar-looking and rudimentary drone described as Ukraine's version of an "air scooter". Despite questions about its complexity, Ukraine's Ministry of Defense said the importance of the drone lies in its extremely low cost, with the entire system plus the drone reportedly costing less than $100,000.
It is understood that the monthly production of the "Sickle" UAV is currently about 50 units, and it is expected to increase to 500 units per month by the summer of 2024. However, the news did not bring much optimism, as Ukraine faces an uncertain future of war, and it is still unknown whether this drone will be able to turn the tide in real combat.
According to the performance data published by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the drone has a take-off weight of 100 kg, a maximum range of up to 750 km and carries a payload of 32 kg. This makes the Scythe UAV a rather terrible **, carrying 32 kg of high-explosive TNT with the power of two 155-mm grenades. The Ukrainian military hopes to take advantage of this characteristic to carry out sneak attacks at low altitudes at night, focusing on attacking the Russian army's forward bases, airfields and other key targets to weaken the Russian army's offensive capabilities.
The launch of the "Scythe" drone marks the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine conflict into a war of attrition. Both sides are trying to reduce the cost of war, gaining an advantage by using cheaper and more effective rudimentary equipment. In this phase of the war, technological advances have provided Ukraine with the opportunity to wage a war of attrition with Russia, but in the long run, the greater challenge that Ukraine may face is the depletion of manpower.