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Russia Rushes Toward Reusable Drones—But Ukraine Got There First

A Belarus serviceman carries a UAV during the “Zapad-2025” joint Russian-Belarusian military drills at a training ground near the town of Borisov, east of Minsk, on September 15, 2025. (Source: Getty Images)

Russia’s drone war is undergoing a major shift as Moscow begins moving away from disposable UAVs and toward a new generation of reusable strike and interceptor drones. But in reality, Russia is playing catch-up. Ukraine was the first to pivot toward heavy, reusable attack drones earlier in the war—a shift that forced Moscow to adapt.

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Photo of Vlad Litnarovych
Vlad Litnarovych
News Writer
Photo of Tetiana Frolova
Tetiana Frolova
News Writer

Russia is moving away from mass one-way attack drones and rapidly shifting toward reusable strike and interceptor platforms, according to Forbes on November 25.

The trend marks a significant change in Russian drone strategy and reflects mounting supply chain pressures, sanctions-driven electronics shortages, and the sheer scale of battlefield demand.

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Forbes notes that both Russia and Ukraine now treat drones as the defining weapons of the war—especially FPV and one-way attack drones that shape the “kill zones” dominating the front.

While Ukraine continues to scale disposable platforms in tandem with reusable ones, Russia, according to Forbes, is increasingly investing in systems meant to return home, reload, and fly again.

From disposable to reusable

Early in the full-scale invasion, Russia relied on Orlan-10 reconnaissance drones for artillery spotting and surveillance. As the war intensified, Russian forces adopted Ukraine’s tactic of deploying large numbers of cheap FPV drones based on commercial components.

These one-way attack drones delivered outsized destructive power at minimal cost, and in both armies became the most lethal weapon on the battlefield.

But according to Forbes, Russia’s newest drones—including the Night Witch and the Bulldog-13—represent a deliberate pivot to reusable designs integrating better sensors, hardened electronics, and longer-range communications.

A video highlighted by Forbes shows the Night Witch, a reusable hexacopter strike drone, dropping mortar rounds on a Ukrainian position on an island in the Dnipro River.

A Russian Night Witch bomber drone, which shares a pretty similar concept with the Ukrainian Vampire heavy hexacopter. (Photo: Defense Express)
A Russian Night Witch bomber drone, which shares a pretty similar concept with the Ukrainian Vampire heavy hexacopter. (Photo: Defense Express)

The drone reportedly carries a 20-kilogram payload, flies for up to 40 minutes, and cruises at 60 km/h, with thermal imaging, optical/digital zoom, and the ability to drop up to four munitions per sortie.

The Bulldog-13, a smaller reusable quadcopter, reportedly carries a 4-kilogram payload and includes modular strike packages and enhanced resistance to Ukrainian jamming.

Possible look of the Russian Bulldog-13 reusable drone. (Photo: open source)
Possible look of the Russian Bulldog-13 reusable drone. (Photo: open source)
Possible look of the Russian Bulldog-13 reusable drone. (Source: nikdata.com)
Possible look of the Russian Bulldog-13 reusable drone. (Source: nikdata.com)

As Forbes notes, these reusable systems give Russian forces “a more versatile and survivable class of strike drones,” able to accommodate sensors and processing capabilities that would be too expensive to lose in a single attack.

However, Forbes also points out a major drawback: reusable drones must fly back to base, cutting effective operational time roughly in half.

Ukraine’s early lead in heavy reusable drones

Ukraine, however, was the first mover in this shift. Long before Russia unveiled systems like the Night Witch, Ukrainian forces were already fielding heavy, reusable strike drones such as the Vampire family, which the Russians nicknamed the Baba Yaga.

These drones are large multirotor platforms capable of carrying multiple munitions, dropping precision-guided charges, and returning home for rapid re-arming.

As Forbes has previously noted, these Ukrainian systems introduced the concept of “economy of reuse” to the battlefield, proving that a single large drone capable of multiple attack cycles was far more cost-effective—and survivable—than fleets of one-way FPV drones.

Moscow’s latest platforms mirror many of these Ukrainian innovations, underscoring how Kyiv’s drone industry has repeatedly forced Russia to redesign its battlefield playbook.

Russia is also reusing interceptor drones

Russia’s defensive drone systems are undergoing a similar evolution. While single-use interceptor drones remain common—ramming Ukrainian drones and detonating—reusable interceptors are now appearing regularly in Russian military videos shared on social media.

Russian interceptors destroyed Ukrainian drones by dropping a can of stew or poking it with a stick—an improvised tactic, but one that preserves the platform for reuse.

Another, more advanced interceptor uses a charged metal rod to deliver an electric pulse that disables multiple Ukrainian drones mid-air.

According to Forbes, these systems increasingly rely on AI-assisted detection and tracking, making them too expensive to expend in one-off collisions. Russia’s solution: operating them as multi-use platforms with longer service lives.

Why the shift?

Russian units now require drones with interference-resistant navigation, autonomous targeting, better optics and thermal sensors, and hardened electronics. These components are expensive, and Moscow cannot afford to lose them with every attack.

On the other hand, Forbes underscores that Western sanctions limit Russia’s access to high-end chips and sensors, forcing Russia to rely heavily on Chinese imports.

In addition, Ukrainian strikes have disrupted domestic production, so Russia, according to Forbes, cannot mass-manufacture enough one-way drones to sustain demand along a 1,000-km front.

Reusable drones absorb these pressures by reducing the rate at which critical components are lost to combat attrition.

The drone race isn’t slowing down

According to Forbes, both Russia and Ukraine are locked in an accelerating drone arms race that is increasingly about economics—not just technology. As platforms grow more sophisticated, the cost per drone rises sharply, pushing both sides to experiment with reusable designs.

Russia appears committed to scaling multi-use strike and interceptor drones to conserve scarce electronics, maintain a steady supply to the front, and adapt faster to Ukrainian countermeasures.

“Underlying the Russia-Ukraine war is a battle for drone supremacy,” Forbes writes—one that will shape what both militaries look like for years.

Earlier, Ukrainian Armed Forces captured a whole Russian-Iranian Shahed-3 suicide drone, including its camera, during recent operations.

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