One-way attack drone

one-way attack drone The terms "one-way attack drone" and "loitering munition" are often used interchangeably in media reports. However, defense analysts and military doctrines have increasingly sought to distinguish OWA-UAVs as a separate category. The primary distinction lies in the concept of operations (CONOPS) and guidance: • Loitering Munitions (LM): Systems like the IAI Harop or ZALA Lancet are designed to loiter over a target area for an extended period. Loitering Munitions used onboard sensors (electro-optical/infrared) to locate targets of opportunity. They typically require a human-in-the-loop to select the target and approve the strike at the final stage. • One-Way Attack Drones (OWA-UAV): Systems like the HESA Shahed 136 typically utilize GNSS (such as GPS or GLONASS) and inertial navigation to fly to specific, pre-programmed geographical coordinates. They generally do not possess the ability to loiter, hunt for moving targets or return to base if a target is not found. According to the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), OWA-UAVs are distinct because they are often employed for strategic "fires" against static infrastructure deep behind enemy lines, rather than tactical battlefield support. == Characteristics ==

Cost and production The defining characteristic of modern OWA-UAVs is their low cost relative to traditional cruise missiles. For example, a Kalibr cruise missile may cost upwards of $1 million, while a Shahed-136 OWA-UAV is estimated to cost between $20,000 and $50,000. This cost asymmetry allows operators to launch them in "swarms" or large salvos to deplete the defender's expensive surface-to-air missiles (SAMs). Those air defense missiles such as MIM-104 Patriot or NASAMS cost significantly more than the drones they are destroying. Design of a Shahed 131 Most OWA-UAVs utilize Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) components to reduce manufacturing complexity and cost: • Propulsion: Most of the one-way attack drones are typically powered by simple two-stroke or four-stroke piston engine (often copied from civilian aircraft or lawnmower engines) driving a pusher propeller. This gives them a distinctively loud acoustic signature, often compared to a "moped" or "lawnmower." Jet drones have greater weight-to-thrust ratio, higher payload and can achieve greater speeds allowing them to evade defences. But jet engines and fuel are costlier, and drone airframes must be made robust to withstand the greater forces, and more advanced electronics are needed to control their flight. Thus, due to the cost they remain rare. Jet drones often have a smaller radar cross section due to the lack of a propeller but have a higher heat signature. • Airframe: Delta-wing configurations are common (such as Shahed-136) to balance drag and payload capacity. They often use honeycomb structures and fiberglass to reduce weight and radar cross-section. • Guidance: Guidance is primarily achieved through consumer-grade or military-grade GNSS modules. GNSS guidance is aided by inertial measurement units (IMUs) for environments where GPS jamming is present. Unlike loitering munitions, they rarely carry cameras or seekers. This lowers their cost but limits them to striking stationary targets. == Operational history ==

, an American reverse-engineered version of the Iranian HESA Shahed 136 one-way attack drone, launching from the USS Santa Barbara Russo-Ukrainian war The Russo-Ukrainian war saw the first large-scale strategic use of OWA-UAVs. Beginning in late 2022, Russia began launching Iranian-supplied Shahed-131 and Shahed-136 one-way attack drones against Ukrainian energy infrastructure and cities. On February 28, 2026, LUCAS was used to strike Iranian targets during the 2026 Iran war. == List of OWA-UAVs ==

List of one-ways attack drones by manufacturing countries: • Iran • Hadid 110 • HESA Shahed-101 • HESA Shahed 131 • HESA Shahed 136 • Raad 85 • Zhobin (non-camera version) • Shahed 161 • Shahed 141 • Russia • Geran-1 (Shahed 131) • BM-35 • Gerbera • Ukraine • AQ-400 Scythe • Fire Point FP-1 • Liutyi • UJ-26 Beaver • UJ-22 Airborne • UJ-25 Skyline • Palianytsia • A-22 Foxbat (conversion) • Sky ranger Nynja (conversion) • E-300 Enterprise • United States • AeroVironment Red Dragon • France • MBDA One Way Effector (OWE) • • GIDS Sarkash • United Kingdom • Banshee Jet 80+ (modified version) • Yemen • Houthis - Samad == See also ==