Ukraine Enhances Mini Shark Drone With Extended Flight Time and Optical Navigation

The Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle Mini Shark, developed by defense company Ukrspecsystems, has undergone modernization, resulting in longer flight time, an upgraded camera, and improved navigation systems.

According to Militarnyi, the drone “is capable of staying in the air twice as long—up to 3 hours and 45 minutes, and its operating radius has increased from 35 to 60 kilometers.” The upgrade also introduces a new onboard camera and optical navigation technology, designed to improve performance in contested environments.

The Mini Shark was first presented in mid-2023 as a compact, hand-launched reconnaissance drone weighing about 5 kilograms. The original version could fly for up to 2 hours and had an effective range of 35 kilometers. It featured a Full HD USG-261 camera with 10× optical and 3× digital zoom, automatic belly landing, and a maximum speed of 120 kilometers per hour, with a cruising speed of 55 kilometers per hour.

The modernization nearly doubles the endurance of the system while expanding its reconnaissance capabilities. The addition of optical navigation is expected to provide greater autonomy and reliability, particularly in areas where satellite navigation may be disrupted.

With these improvements, the Mini Shark is positioned to enhance Ukraine’s aerial reconnaissance capacity, allowing for extended surveillance missions and more resilient operations in the ongoing war.

Earlier, it was reported that Ukrspecsystems unveiled an upgraded electro-optical station for the SHARK-M drone, integrating both day and thermal imaging cameras along with a laser rangefinder, and introduced a field-swappable module system—marking a leap in reconnaissance flexibility and precision.

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