Ukraine’s Kazhan Heavy Bombers: These Are Not Your 2022 Multicopters

BusinessAerospace & DefenseUkraine’s Kazhan Heavy Bombers: These Are Not Your 2022 MulticoptersByDavid Hambling,Senior Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I'm a South London-based technology journalist, consultant and authorFollow AuthorMay 08, 2026, 08:47am EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.That quadcopter version of the Kazhan heavy bomberReactive DroneEvery night in Ukraine, large multicopter drones take off with loads of bombs to hit Russian targets. They are among the most feared and most effective weapons in Ukraine’s arsenal.They look much like the bomber drones which played a key role in stopping the armored thrust towards Kyiv four years ago. But as Artem Kolesnyk, CTO of Reactive Drone explains, everything has changed. In terms of capability, the current models are in a different league to the early models. The new generation are smarter and more capable, able to hit moving precision targets at far greater ranges with bigger bombloads. And they can survive threats, both electronic and kinetic, that would have easily downed the earlier generation, thanks to a combination of hardware, constant software upgrades, and training.“It is critical for companies like ours to deliver not just a standalone drone, but a complete operational ecosystem,” says Kolesnyk.Giving Drones Longer Legs he R18 octocopter was an early successful bomber AerorozvidkaThe R18 drones developed and operated by the Aerorozvidka volunteers in 2022 to deliver a heavier bombload than was possible with commercial drones. They carried around 11 pounds of bombs out to a range of three miles. This meant that crews had to go out on quad bikes and get close to Russian units before launching their drone. The R-18s were typically armed with repurposed RPG-7 anti-tank rocket warheads.MORE FOR YOUThese daring missions were effective. The bombs were easily able...