Ukraine Says Its Small Propeller Drones Can Go Faster Than F1 Cars

A small Ukrainian drone built to chase down and intercept other aerial systems has recently achieved a speed of 400 kmph, or 248.5 mph, Kyiv’s digital transformation minister said on Tuesday.

“400 km/h — that’s the speed reached by an interceptor drone powered by a motor from Motor-G, a member of Brave1UA,” Mykhailo Fedorov wrote in a social media post. Brave1 is Ukraine’s defense innovation platform.

Such a velocity means that the interceptor can beat the official speed record for Formula 1 racing, achieved by Valtteri Bottas in 2016 at 231.46 mph.

A speed of 248.5 mph also allows the drone to nearly match the fastest high-speed trains in the world. The Shanghai Maglev, for example, reached speeds of 280 mph during tests in October, but is commercially operated at 186 mph.

And a motor-powered interceptor would be doing so with propellers, rather than the jet engines or high-thrust combustion systems that propel other vehicles to extreme speeds. Because interceptor drones are designed to destroy other drones at a low cost, Ukraine’s manufacturers typically price them below $6,000 each.

It’s another sign of how quickly the war is transforming the local weapons industry, which has turned hobbyist drones into some of the fastest yet cheapest aircraft on the battlefield. Four months ago, another Ukrainian interceptor drew widespread attention for reaching 195 mph in flight.

Ukraine is now ramping up ambitions to export such war technology, saying that its locally built missiles, drones, and anti-air systems have been tried and tested against Russia.

A video posted by Fedorov on Tuesday said that producing drone motors in Ukraine “seemed impossible” just two years ago, but that Motor-G is now making 100,000 motors a month.

“Today, more and more drones are flying on motors made in Ukraine,” the minister wrote.

Kyiv has been particularly focused on increasing the speed of its interceptors because Russia has been developing its own versions of the Iranian Shahed, which are long-range attack drones.

The most commonly used models of these loitering munitions fly at roughly 115 to 180 mph, and are often released in large numbers to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses. The Russian tactic created the urgent need for Ukraine to develop cheap ways to destroy the Shaheds, which led to the rise of interceptor drones.

However, Moscow has been repeatedly reported to be experimenting with smaller waves of new jet-powered Shaheds, which are believed to reach speeds of 230 mph.

Their emergence at the start of the year initially sparked fears in Ukraine that they would be too fast for interceptors to catch, though recent reports and war footage indicate that Ukrainian manufacturers have managed to close the gap.

One jet-powered Shahed, for example, was filmed being approached by a Ukrainian interceptor from behind in late November.