Veloce: The French jamming-resistant jet-powered drone bound for Ukraine
There could soon be something new in the skies over Ukraine this summer - and it's bad news for Russian invasion forces.
The Veloce 330 is a French jet-powered loitering munition that in tests has already reached almost 250mph, covering 30 miles in just 16 minutes on only half a tank of fuel.
It's equipped with a core generating charge - a modified version of a regular shaped charge that can be remotely operated to defeat the active defences of armoured vehicles and a navigation system without GPS – making it insensitive to jamming.
It mirrors the Iranian Shahed 238 drone, the unwanted newcomer used in Ukraine by Russia that has now also appeared in Israel.
However, the Veloce also has vertical take-off and landing capability and three hours of autonomous flight.
Thanks to its optronic ball sesnsor array, the drone can detect a vehicle more than nine miles away by day and almost two miles away at night.
A tranche of prototypes is expected to be delivered to Kyiv for testing this summer.