Russia’s ‘Prince Vandal’ FPV Drone Destroys $300M Worth of NATO Equipment in Ukraine

The Prince Vandal of Novgorod, a fiber-optic first-person-view (FPV) drone, has reportedly destroyed $300 million worth of NATO military equipment in Ukraine.

Andrey Nikitin, the governor of Russia's Novgorod Region, highlighted this during his annual address, on Tuesday. “Our engineers, who in less than a year, literally from scratch, created and mastered the production of the combat drone Prince Vandal, most successful so far. It has already destroyed more than $300 million worth of NATO equipment,” Nikitin said.

The Prince Vandal was developed by Ushkuynik, a Novgorod-based research and production center specializing in unmanned aircraft systems and counter-drone technologies. Initially tested in August 2024 during Ukraine's incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, the drone demonstrated resilience to electronic warfare, enhancing its reliability for various combat operations.

According to Alexey Chadayev, CEO of Ushkuynik, the drone will now be manufactured in multiple regions across Russia. Plans are underway to establish assembly laboratories in the special operation zone, potentially increasing the availability of these drones for immediate deployment.

The drone, reportedly capable of flying up to 9 kilometers, uses a fiber-optic cable for control, making it resistant to electronic warfare countermeasures and difficult to detect.

The drone's wired system, compared to conventional radio-controlled UAVs, transmits high-quality video data but faces limitations in maneuverability, added weight, and vulnerability to physical obstacles. Russian sources claim upgraded versions are being tested with extended cable ranges of 20 kilometers. Some Ukrainian experts suggest the drone may be an adaptation of a Chinese Skywalker drone.