An unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), also known as a combat drone, fighter drone or battlefield UAV, is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that is used for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance and carries aircraft ordnance such as missiles, anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs), and/or bombs in hardpoints for drone strikes. These drones are usually under real-time human control, with varying levels of autonomy. UCAVs are used for reconnaissance, attacking targets and returning to base; unlike kamikaze drones which are only made to explode on impact, or surveillance drones which are only for gathering intelligence.
The S-5 is a rocket weapon developed by the Soviet Air Force and used by military aircraft against ground area targets. It is in service with the Russian Aerospace Forces and various export customers. It is based on the R4M, a German design from World War 2.
RS-82 and RS-132 were unguided rockets used by Soviet military during World War II.
The IAI Searcher is a reconnaissance UAV developed in Israel in the 1980s. In the following decade, it replaced the IMI Mastiff and IAI Scout UAVs then in service with the Israeli Army.
Martlet or the Lightweight Multirole Missile(LMM) is a lightweight air-to-surface, air-to-air, surface-to-air, and surface-to-surface missile developed by Thales Air Defence for the United Kingdom. It is named after a mythical bird from English heraldry that never roosts, the Martlet.
The Shahed 129 is an Iranian single-engine medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) designed by Shahed Aviation Industries for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The Shahed 129 is capable of combat and reconnaissance missions and has an endurance of 24 hours; it is similar in size, shape and role to the American MQ-1 Predator and is widely considered as one of the most capable drones in Iranian service.
Drone warfare is a form of aerial warfare or marine warfare using unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) or weaponized commercial unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). The United States, United Kingdom, Israel, China, South Korea, Iran, Iraq, Italy, France, India, Pakistan, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and Poland are known to have manufactured operational UCAVs as of 2019.
CASC Rainbow, abbreviated as CH, is a series of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) developed by the China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics within the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), also known as the 11th Academy of CASC or 701st Research Institute.
The Bayraktar UAV or Bayraktar UCAV is a family of unmanned aerial vehicles designed and manufactured by Turkish company Baykar. The UAVs were developed for the Turkish Armed Forces from 2004 until the present. Some models are designed for surveillance and reconnaissance only, others are capable of tactical ground-strike missions. Baykar is also developing drones to counter other aerial systems. The word bayraktar means flag-bearer in Turkish.
The Shahed Saegheh, also called the Shahed 191, is an Iranian turbofan/piston-powered flying wing unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) produced by Shahed Aviation Industries. It is based on, but smaller than and substantially different from, a Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel UAV that was captured by Iran in 2011 and then reverse-engineered. It is one of two Iranian flying wing UAVs based on the RQ-170, along with the Shahed 171 Simorgh, a larger version.
Bayraktar Akıncı is a high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) being manufactured by the Turkish defence company Baykar. The first three units entered service with the Turkish Armed Forces on 29 August 2021.
The Sukhoi S-70 Okhotnik-B, also referred to as Hunter-B, is a Russian stealth heavy unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) being developed by Sukhoi and Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG as a sixth-generation aircraft project. The drone is based on the earlier Mikoyan Skat, designed by MiG, and encompassing some technologies of the fifth-generation Sukhoi Su-57 fighter jet. In the future, it is planned to act under the control of pilots of Su-57 jets, similarly to the USAF Skyborg programme.
The TAI Aksungur is an unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) built by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) for the Turkish Armed Forces. Using existing technology from the TAI Anka series of drones, it is the manufacturer's largest drone with payload capacity for mission-specific equipment. It is intended to be used for long-term surveillance, signals intelligence, maritime patrol missions, or as an unmanned combat aerial vehicle. TAI planned to integrate weapon packages and put the Aksungur into production in early 2020. The first unit was delivered to the Turkish Naval Forces on 20 October 2021.
The Bayraktar TB2 is a medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) capable of remotely controlled or autonomous flight operations. It is manufactured by the Turkish company Baykar Makina Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş., primarily for the Turkish Armed Forces. The aircraft are monitored and controlled by an aircrew in a ground control station, including weapons employment. The development of the UAV has been largely credited to Selçuk Bayraktar, a former MIT graduate student.
The Kronshtadt Orion is a family of Russian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) developed by Kronstadt Group. There are several variants of the drone, both for Russia's domestic and export market.
The Luch Korsar is a medium-weight Russian unmanned aerial vehicle developed by OKB Luch, member of Ruselectronics owned by Rostec, to perform reconnaissance, strike and electronic attack missions on behalf of the Russian Ground Forces and Navy. The program started in 2009 and the flight testing commenced in 2015. It is considered as an improved analogue of the US-made RQ-7 Shadow UAV.
The Mohajer-6 is an Iranian single-engine multirole ISTAR UAV capable of carrying a multispectral surveillance payload and/or up to four precision-guided munitions.
The Bayraktar Kızılelma is a single-engine, low-observable, carrier-capable, jet-powered unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), currently in development by Turkish defense company Baykar. The aircraft is being developed as part of Project MIUS. The initial Bayraktar Kızılelma (Kızılelma-A) is subsonic. Planned variants are intended to be supersonic, the latter having a twin-engined configuration. It is one of the two Turkish jet-powered stealth UCAV along with TAI Anka-3.
The ZALA Lancet is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and loitering munition developed by the Russian company ZALA Aero Group for the Russian Armed Forces. It was first unveiled in June 2019 at the ARMY-2019 military expo in Moscow. It is a further development of the ZALA Kub-BLA loitering munition. Iran claimed in April 2024 that it has manufactured a domestic analogue of the drone.
The R18 is a Ukrainian unmanned combat aerial vehicle designed to attack enemy targets with ammunition. It was developed by Ukrainian organization Aerorozvidka. The R18 is in service with the Security and Defense Forces of Ukraine in the Russo-Ukrainian War, which has been ongoing since 2014.
