Ukrainians Employing Australian ‘Cardboard Drones’ to Drop Bombs

The Ukrainian armed forces have employed cheap, single-use cargo drones made by Australian company SYPAQ Systems to drop bombs on Russian targets and perform logistics tasks in hard-to-reach places.

The company said it has handed over 60 Corvo Precision Payload Delivery System (PPDS) drones to Ukraine. The drone was developed in Melbourne in partnership with Army and under a $1.1 million Defence Innovation Hub contract.

Drones are supplied in the form of blanks made from flat sheets of cardboard, from which an aircraft can be easily assembled.

Chief Engineer of SYPAQ Ross Osborne told The Australian, “Low profile is a key feature, we can fold them onto a pallet. We also developed modular avionics and sets of power plants, which we hope can be reused.”

The main task of drones is to deliver ammunition, food, and medicine directly to the front line. But reconnaissance flights and the dropping of explosive devices are also possible.

Osborne emphasized that drones are made for working in difficult conditions:

“The sturdy cardboard was soaked in wax to prevent the fuselage from collapsing and drones from falling further in wet weather conditions,” he said.

Depending on the model, the drone can lift up to 3 kg or 5 kg. The aircraft is capable of carrying cargo for 1-3 hours, depending on the range load of 40-120km.