Ukraine has a new rocket-powered drone called Peklo, the Ukrainian for hell, which it introduced to the world on Friday, Armed Forces Day.
“It is very important that our defenders receive such a modern Ukrainian-made weapon,” President Volodymyr Zelenksy said in a statement.
The next task, he said, is to increase production and deploy the weapon. With a range of up to 700 kilometers, it is designed to fly at a speed of 700 kilometers per hour.
Minister for Strategic Industrial Sectors Herman Smetanin reported on Telegram that the first dozen weapons had already been handed over to the army.
He explained that its development took a year and its accuracy and resilience to electronic countermeasures are continuously being improved. “Together we are building the arsenal of the free world,” Smetanin wrote.
With the stated range, the weapon could be used against targets deep in the Russian hinterland, including the capital Moscow and beyond. The Kremlin is located about 450 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
In August, Zelensky presented a rocket drone called Palyanytsia for Independence Day. According to media reports, it also has a range of several hundred kilometers with a warhead weighing more than 100 kilograms.
Palyanytsia is a type of bread, but the pronunciation of the word is a shibboleth that can identify a native Ukrainian speaker, which was used during the war to distinguish Russian soldiers and saboteurs.
Defense Minister Rustem Umerov wrote on Wednesday that it has already entered serial production.
