One Way Aerospace to demo Ukraine-made kamikaze drones to NATO

MILAN– Ukraine-based start-up One Way Aerospace, which makes low-cost, domestically produced kamikaze drones, said it will demonstrate a long-range system to the country’s Ministry of Defense and an undisclosed European NATO partner.

Both the company’s AQ-400 and the AQV-150 Scalpel Heavy drones are expected to be tested and showcased in late May at an unknown location. Founded eight-months ago by two veterans of the British and Australian militaries and a Ukrainian engineer, One Way Aerospace has made rapid leaps in widening the set of platforms it markets to customers.

Disposable, one-way or “kamikaze” drones offer the advantage of low cost and ease of replacement. If one gets shot down, it is not that relevant, since they typically cost far less than cruise missiles and can be purchased in larger amounts. This is known as the quantity-over-complexity strategy, where successful outcomes on the battlefield can be generated by a larger quantity of lower-tech weapons rather than relying on fewer, more costly and more complex munitions.

“Our mission was created after we saw a direct market-need to procure systems that are simple, affordable and disposable from a commercial basis,” James Earl, co-founder of One Way Aerospace, told Defense News. “We thought to ourselves, the only way this concept was going to work was if we saw our products not necessarily as precious assets, but more so in the same way that cruise missiles are seen.”

Production is set up through a network of small sites and engineering companies manufacturing similar platforms on the ground. Although One Way Aerospace sources some components from outside Ukraine – primarily from the West, including Germany and the U.K. – the company seeks to localize manufacturing as much as possible.

This will soon involve the establishment of a larger facility of at least 1,000 square meters in Ukraine to ramp up the production of their latest AQ-400 Scythe platform. This long-range kamikaze drone was designed to be rapidly assembled and mass-produced at low prices. It can be launched from a short runway or catapult and can carry payloads up to 70 pounds (32 kilograms).

“The AQ-400 will begin development for turbine power and low-level terrain following type flight control, which will take us one step closer to the affordable cruise missile goal: 1000 kilometers, at a speed of 350 km/h for less than $100,000,” Earl said in an interview, adding that when combined, the AQ-400 and AQV-150 could form a disposable multi-strike system. The goal is to eventually be able to hit 10 targets at 150 kilometers from the launch site, he said.

This month, the company released video footage showing its AQV-Scalpel, using a small first-person view system, in Ukraine targeting Russian military trenches, personnel carriers and even destroying a TOS-1A thermobaric rocket launcher vehicle.

As these types of systems fly at lower speeds and have finite flight time, they are easier targets and at higher risk of being hit by kinetic strikes. Another element to consider about the quantity over complexity claim is that it is not automatically applicable to all conflict zones or types of environments. Individual states’ security requirements may differ from one to the next, a limitation the company recognizes.

“The starting point of this market for us was fulfilling a particular, important challenge Ukraine was facing, one perhaps other countries do not have on their doorstep… It is a single-use case of a type of system [and way of delivering capabilities] being incredibly useful, but one that does not necessarily transport everywhere well or the same,” Earl said.

Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo was a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a wide range of topics related to military procurement and international security, and specializes in reporting on the aviation sector. She is based in Milan, Italy.

米兰——总部位于乌克兰的初创公司 One Way Aerospace 生产低成本的国产自杀式无人机，该公司表示将向乌克兰国防部和一家未公开的欧洲北约合作伙伴展示一款远程系统。

该公司旗下的AQ-400和AQV-150“手术刀重型”无人机预计将于5月下旬在某个未知地点进行测试和展示。One Way Aerospace由两名英国和澳大利亚退伍军人以及一名乌克兰工程师于八个月前创立，该公司在拓展其面向客户的平台范围方面取得了长足的进步。

一次性、单用途或“神风特攻队”无人机具有成本低、易于更换的优势。即使被击落，损失也不大，因为它们的成本通常远低于巡航导弹，而且可以大量采购。这被称为“数量胜于复杂性”战略，即战场上取得成功可以通过大量低技术武器来实现，而不是依赖数量更少、成本更高、结构更复杂的弹药。

“我们的使命源于我们看到市场对简单、经济实惠且可商用的系统有着直接的需求，”One Way Aerospace联合创始人詹姆斯·厄尔告诉《防务新闻》。“我们当时就想，要想让这个理念奏效，唯一的办法就是把我们的产品看作是像巡航导弹一样，而不是珍贵的资产。”

生产是通过一个由小型生产基地和工程公司组成的网络进行的，这些公司在地面上制造类似的平台。尽管One Way Aerospace从乌克兰以外（主要来自西方国家，包括德国和英国）采购一些零部件，但该公司力求尽可能实现本地化生产。

这将很快涉及在乌克兰建立一个至少1000平方米的大型工厂，以提升其最新型AQ-400“镰刀”无人机的产量。这款远程自杀式无人机旨在快速组装并以低成本进行大规模生产。它可以从短跑道或弹射器起飞，并可携带高达70磅（32公斤）的有效载荷。

“AQ-400将开始研发涡轮动力和低空地形跟随飞行控制系统，这将使我们离低成本巡航导弹的目标更近一步：射程1000公里，速度350公里/小时，成本低于10万美元，”厄尔在一次采访中说道。他还补充说，AQ-400和AQV-150组合后可以组成一次性多目标打击系统。他表示，最终目标是能够打击距离发射场150公里内的10个目标。

本月，该公司发布了一段视频，展示了其 AQV-Scalpel 无人机在乌克兰使用小型第一人称视角系统，瞄准俄罗斯军事战壕、人员运输车，甚至摧毁了一辆 TOS-1A 温压火箭发射车。

由于这类系统飞行速度较低且飞行时间有限，因此更容易成为目标，遭受动能打击的风险也更高。关于“数量重于复杂性”的说法，另一个需要考虑的因素是，它并非自动适用于所有冲突地区或环境类型。各个国家的安全要求可能各不相同，公司也意识到了这一局限性。

“我们进入这个市场的出发点是满足乌克兰面临的一个特殊而重要的挑战，而其他国家可能并没有面临这样的挑战……这是一个特定用途的案例，某种类型的系统（以及交付能力的方式）非常有用，但这种系统不一定能很好地或以相同的方式推广到所有地方，”厄尔说。

伊丽莎白·戈斯林-马洛曾任《防务新闻》欧洲通讯员。她的报道涵盖军事采购和国际安全等广泛领域，尤其擅长航空领域的报道。她常驻意大利米兰。