Russian troops deploy ‘Knyaz Vandal’ Optical Drone as Ambush Weapon
The knyaz Vandal Novgorodsky optical drone is now being utilized by Russian troops as an ambush drone. This data was shared with TASS by Alexey Chadaev, general director of the Scientific and Production Center (SPC) “Ushkuynik” in Veliky Novgorod.
“Speaking of significant improvements, since the spring we’ve added the capability to use it as an ambush drone – a ‘waiting drone.’ This means the drones can fly to a location, land, and wait for targets,” Chadaev explained. “Numerous changes have also been made internally, and we’ve increased the drone’s technical range, adding coils with extended reach.”
According to Chadaev, the drone has undergone substantial changes since its introduction into service in August 2024. “Today’s drones are vastly different machines compared to those flown 1.5 years ago. Only the frame shape remains the same,” he stated. “We began receiving consistent feedback from soldiers using the drones, not just suggestions from individual units, but also detailed statistics. Consequently,the development and technical improvements of the ‘Knyaz Vandal’ are now based on a structured,statistically analyzed stream of failures,requests,real-world situations,and specific use-case scenarios,along with the engineering expertise of our development team.”