News agency TASS reports that the Russian company Resource LLC announced at the IV All-Russian meeting of drone operators and manufacturers—Dronnitsa—that it had created a Baba Yaga analog.
The drone, named Alexander Nevsky, is among several drones that Russian drone manufacturers are developing to outdo Ukraine’s “Baba Yaga” drone bomber.
“We have our Baba Yaga, which carries 100 kg of payload. These are five TM-62 anti-tank mines or fifteen 82 mm mortar mines. With a load of 50 kg, it can run 20–25 km. The drone is called Alexander Nevsky,” a company representative told TASS.
Since the start of Russia’s special military operation (SMO) in Ukraine over three years ago, Russia has been working to field drones that match the capabilities of the Baba Yaga.
The Baba Yaga Success
The Baba Yaga was initially an agricultural drone used to spray fields with chemicals. Following the start of Russia’s “Special Military Operations”, it was quickly adapted as a drone bomber capable of nighttime precision raids.
Equipped with thermal cameras, it could carry payloads of up to 15 kg, including fragmentation munitions, shaped charges, and anti-tank mines. It proved very effective in delivering targeted strikes against armored vehicles, ammunition dumps, and defensive positions.
The drone is capable of speeds up to 80 km/h, a range of about 10 km, and a flight duration of approximately 23 minutes.
The effectiveness of the drone prompted Russian troops to call it “Baba Yaga,” likening it to a mythical witch creeping through enemy lines.
Matching The Baba Yaga Success
Earlier, in late March 2025, Izvestia reported that a Tomsk-based startup named UAS RPC (Unmanned Aircraft Systems Research and Production Center) was creating a large fixed-wing UAV capable of lifting 200 kg of payload over hundreds of kilometers. The first flight of the drone was planned for August–September 2025.
The drone from the Siberian company was conceived as a transport UAV for the eastern regions of the country, where the distance between settlements is often measured in hundreds of kilometers. The UAV does not need a runway and can “unload” cargo using a parachute.
The drone could be used as a military transport or a bomber drone. Unlike Ukrainian long-range fixed-wing drones, the Siberian company’s drone is not a disposable kamikaze drone.
Last year, in August 2024, RIA Novosti reported that a company named Groza had created a strike hexacopter drone called Night Witch capable of dropping four munitions. The drone features a broadband communication link, which is more difficult to jam.
“We produce one Night Witch per day. The drone is equipped with a system for dropping up to four munitions with a total weight of up to 15–20 kilograms. Communication allows for video broadcasting at a range of 50 kilometers. It works in conjunction with the Sova-22 vertical takeoff aircraft, which acts as a reconnaissance aircraft and target designator for the Night Witch strike drone, as well as for field artillery,” a company representative told RIA Novosti.
The Night Witch has a cruising speed of 60 kilometers per hour, a payload capacity of up to 20 kilograms, a flight time of 40 minutes with a 10-kilogram load, interference-resistant navigation, a camera with a thermal imager and a tenfold optical zoom, and a 32-fold digital zoom.
Going by the increasing number of drone bombing videos posted by Russian sources, it’s likely that the Night Witch and/or other bomber drones are starting to wreak as much havoc along the frontline as the Baba Yaga.
Reasons For Baba Yaga’s Success
One reason why Ukraine’s Baba Yaga enjoyed so much success in the initial stages of the SMO was that Russian air defense (AD) systems could not be deployed close to the frontline.
Large drones can be detected, tracked, and engaged by the Russian Pantsir-S mobile AD system. Indeed, the Pantsir-SM, the latest Pantsir variant, has the ability to engage drones like the Baba Yaga using low-cost short-range mini missiles.
However, being an expensive system, the Pantsir-SM is best used to protect targets from drone attacks while deployed deep in the interior. Near the front line, the system would be an easy target for adversary artillery.
Bomber drones such as the Baba Yaga are more cost-effective than FPV kamikaze drones when a static or dormant target has to be destroyed. The former are reusable.
They can visually and accurately drop their ordnance and return home. The cost of the mission is largely confined to the cost of the ordnance dropped.
Drone Weapons
Being larger and more powerful, drone bombers can carry a variety of ordnance, giving them the ability to better engage different types of targets.
Both Ukraine and Russia are attempting to improve the lethality of their drone bombers by giving them the capability to use PGMs (Precision-Guided Munitions).
According to Forbes, the Baba Yaga is now reportedly equipped with guided bombs—possibly with semi-active laser seekers—marked “BK-3OF.”
Drone Bomber Nemeses
Both Ukraine and Russia are developing interceptor drones to neutralize large, easily detectable drones, such as reconnaissance and bomber drones.
Interceptor drones can fly much faster than attack drones because they don’t carry any payload. They feature a simple electro-optical seeker that allows them to ram and bring down the target drone.
Interceptor drones can be widely and stealthily deployed along the battlefront, unlike AD systems. Their per-unit cost is lower than that of the target drone. If they lose their lock on the target, they can be reused.
Ukraine was the first to deploy interceptor drones. Russia has now caught up with the technology as well as the tactics to keep large adversary drones on the defensive with interceptor drones.
Indeed, interceptor drones have proved so successful that Russian forces are now being forced to deploy an identification friend-or-foe (IFF) system for drones in order to prevent fratricide.
While the impact of drone bombers on the battlefield has diminished due to countermeasures, they will continue to be used.
- Vijainder K Thakur is a retired IAF Jaguar pilot, author, software architect, entrepreneur, and military analyst.
- VIEWS PERSONAL OF THE AUTHOR
- Follow the author @vkthakur
