Ukrainian Firm UFORCE Unveils Swarm-Capable “Bucha” Strike Drone

Ukrainian defense tech company UFORCE has unveiled the “Bucha” suicide drone, Militarnyi reported on March 17.

Bucha is a new airplane-type drone capable of striking targets up to 200 kilometers away. The drone was showcased at the “Arsenal of Talents” defense tech job fair.

A UFORCE engineer told Militarnyi that the Bucha can utilize various communication channels tailored to specific frontline sectors, including Starlink communications. The system is designed so the drones launch in groups and communicate via a mesh network.

Under this setup, one drone in the swarm trades its warhead for an additional battery to act as a signal repeater, constantly relaying commands to the active strike drones.

Rather than using a standard pneumatic catapult, the Bucha fires from a compact guide rail using a starting powder charge.

“It is planned to use a launcher where, for example, four planes are already loaded. They are ready to launch and can take off one after another with a certain interval,” a company representative told Militarnyi.

“The final idea is that this can be controlled by one pilot or one group of operators: several planes are launched, after which the operators take turns connecting to them and controlling them,” he continued.

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The 200-kilometer range drone carries a 5.5-kilogram warhead and is currently undergoing flight modifications ahead of live combat testing. Depending on the communication equipment installed, each unit is expected to cost between $10,000 and $12,000. UFORCE also confirmed a smaller, combat-tested version with a 100 to 120-kilometer range and a 3.5-kilogram warhead is already in pre-series production.

UFORCE had previously reached a market valuation of over $1 billion after securing $50 million from investors like Shield Capital and Lakestar and became Ukraine’s first defense tech unicorn company. The conglomerate, which unites nine domestic defense enterprises, produces a wide range of combat-proven unmanned systems, including the highly successful MAGURA maritime drone.

CEO Oleg Rogynsky noted that UFORCE’s technology is built specifically for real-world combat where expensive Western weapons have often failed, providing invaluable operational data to Ukraine’s allies.

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