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Ukraine May Be Testing a New FPV Strike Drone Recently Purchased by US Marines
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![Photo of Ivan Khomenko]( "Photo of Ivan Khomenko")
Ukraine may have received the latest Bolt-M first-person view (FPV) drones developed by the US defense company Anduril Industries, according to a January 24 report by Defense Express.
Although there has been no official confirmation, the outlet points to indirect signs suggesting that some of these drones could have been delivered to Ukraine’s Armed Forces for combat testing.
The Bolt-M drone was publicly introduced by Anduril in fall 2024 and is part of the company’s broader involvement in the US Marine Corps’ Organic Precision Fires-Light (OPF-L) program. In December 2025, the US Department of Defense awarded Anduril a $23.9 million contract for over 600 Bolt-M units, with deliveries scheduled between February 2026 and April 2027.
In a detailed interview with The War Zone, Dan Layton, general manager of Anduril’s precision-strike systems, stated that Bolt-M was developed based on extensive feedback from military personnel.
“We spoke with numerous veterans here at Anduril—many of whom actually piloted early versions of the system. We also engaged with soldiers, Marines, participants in current conflicts, and civilian FPV operators,” said Layton.
Defense Express points to Layton’s mention of “participants in current conflicts” as a possible reference to Ukrainian forces. The publication suggests that this phrasing, alongside other operational details, may indicate that a batch of Bolt-M drones was sent to Ukraine for evaluation under live battlefield conditions.
Additionally, Anduril reportedly produced over 550 drones during the OPF-L testing phase, of which 250 were sent to the US Marine Corps. The remaining 300 units were delivered to what the company described as an “unnamed customer.”
While no country was identified, Defense Express considers it plausible that Ukraine was the recipient, especially given the existing cooperation between Anduril and Ukraine via other drone platforms.
Anduril currently supplies ALTIUS drones to Ukraine under the US Department of Defense’s Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI). The company is also involved in supplying rocket propulsion systems for GLSDB (Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bombs), developed jointly by Saab and Boeing. Anduril’s Rocket Motor Systems division offers a lower-cost, higher-throughput solution, which has reportedly led to its selection as a propulsion supplier.
The Bolt-M is a fixed-wing FPV drone capable of traveling over 20 kilometers, staying airborne for up to 40 minutes, and becoming mission-ready within five minutes. According to Defense Express, these characteristics make it suitable for high-risk strike operations and reconnaissance under electronic warfare conditions.
While Anduril has not officially confirmed any deliveries to Ukraine, the suggestion that Bolt-M may be undergoing testing on the Ukrainian battlefield reflects a broader trend of US defense technology firms engaging in rapid iteration through real-world feedback.
Earlier, Ukraine announced the launch of joint production of interceptor drones with the United States, aimed at countering Russian attack drones. According to Bloomberg on November 13, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the cooperation is expected to scale up output to 600–800 drones per day in the near term, with a longer‑term target of around 1,000 interceptor drones daily.
