MOSCOW, October 23. /TASS/. The Belarusian Mirotvorets (Peacemaker) kamikaze drone, which was presented this October during a military parade rehearsal in Libya, could potentially be in demand among the Russian Armed Forces, Denis Fedutinov, a leading unmanned aerial vehicle expert, told TASS.
"The special military operation continues, and the demand for kamikaze drones remains very high. The Geran drones alone are needed in quantities exceeding 1,000 pieces per month. And the demand for smaller-sized drones is several times higher. This suggests that, given the current situation, it cannot be ruled out that the Mirotvorets drones may also be in demand by the Russian Armed Forces. If my assumption is correct, then in the initial stage we can expect direct purchases from Belarus, and in the future, cooperation could be developed either through the creation of a joint venture or by organizing licensed production in our country," Fedutinov said.
The expert noted that the appearance of these systems at the parade in Libya further confirms the trend toward a sharp increase in global interest in loitering munitions. "The threshold for becoming a possessor of this type of high-precision weaponry is quite low, which expands the pool of potential customers to include virtually every country in the world. And this market offers opportunities not only for Belarusian but also for Russian development companies," Fedutinov added.
According to him, UAVHELI (Belarus), which developed the Mirotvorets system, took an unconventional approach. "They did not attempt to create their own copies of systems already on the market, instead, they entered a niche where there were few offerings--high-speed, relatively small turbojet UAVs. As a result, their developments do not compete with Russia’s drones of similar purpose: the electric Lancets are inferior in class and speed, while the Gerans and Banderols, on the contrary, are larger in size," the expert noted.
The Mirotvorets fixed-wing loitering munition has a two-beam layout. The maximum takeoff weight of the vehicle is 46 kg. The Mirotvorets is powered by a turbojet engine, capable of reaching a maximum speed of 450 km/h. The mission endurance is 45 minutes. The vehicle is equipped with a 10-kg high-explosive fragmentation warhead. The system is equipped with communications equipment offering a range of up to 100 km.