Russian Start-up to Unveil 300km Bomber Drone at ARMY 2023

Russian Start-up, Oko Design Bureau will unveil its latest attack drone, the Privet-120 (Hello-120) drone bomber prototype at the Army 2023 forum.

"A new Privet-120 prototype will be demonstrated at the Army-2023 forum for the first time. The project commenced as a cruise missile but the new prototype is an unmanned bomber designed for counter-battery warfare and the destruction of strongholds," an Oko press release said.

The Privet-120 drone bomber has an operational range of 200 km, can accelerate to 140 km/h and carry a 20 kg payload, the release said. The ultra-long range and heavy payload combination will give the drone bomber loitering and precision strike capability like no other drone in the world.

“Privet-120 is under development. This is a much larger kamikaze drone (compared to the Privet 82), capable of carrying about 20 kg of explosives,” Oko founder, Andrei Ivanov had said in an interview to RT in April this year.

In comparison, the Privet-82 (“Hello-82”) kamikaze drone announced earlier this year, has an operational range of 30 km, can accelerate to 140 km/h and carry a 5.5 kg payload. The said drone has cleared tests during its combat deployment in Ukraine.

"Since our drone has a range of about 30 kilometers [18.6 miles], it can be based about 15-20 kilometers behind the front lines from a launch point that can serve several units at the same time.  who will connect to the drone in flight and use it on the selected target," Vadim Zhernov, the co-owner and general director of the Oko design bureau, explained to Sputnik.

Zhernov added that it is possible to transfer control of the Privet-82 drone from one operator to another when the UAV arrives in the area of its intended operation.