A loitering munition (LM) is a type of self-destructive unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) equipped with a warhead that is typically designed to remotely loiter by a human operator using electro-optical targeting sensors or camera suite and data-link until a target is designated, then crash into it and detonate.[1][2][3][4] The anti-radiation (anti-radar) loitering munition is a type of loitering munition that employs either an anti-radiation seeker alone or combined with an electro-optical targeting system to locate enemy radar by loitering and destroy it after detection.[5][6] Common terms like suicide drone,[7][8][9][10] kamikaze drone,[11][12][13] or exploding drone[14] are used for both loitering munition and one-way attack drone. They enable attacks against hidden targets that emerge for short periods without placing high-value platforms near the target area. Unlike many other types of munitions, their attacks can be changed mid-mission or aborted.[4] Loitering munitions are typically aerial platforms, but include some autonomous undersea vehicles with similar characteristics.[15]
Loitering weapons emerged in the 1980s for the suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD) role, and were deployed for SEAD by some military forces in the 1990s. In the 2000s, they were developed for additional roles, from long-range strikes and fire support to short-range tactical systems that fit in a backpack.
History
First development and terminology
Initially, loitering munitions were not referred to as such but rather as "suicide UAVs" or "loitering missiles". Different sources point at different projects as originating the weapon category. The failed US AGM-136 Tacit Rainbow program[16][a] or the 1980s initial Israeli Delilah variants[18][19] are mentioned by some sources.[20] The Iranian Ababil-1 was produced in the 1980s but its exact production date is unknown.[21] The Israeli IAI Harpy was produced in the late 1980s.[20] Early projects did not use the "loitering munition" nomenclature, which emerged much later; they used terminology existing at the time. For instance the AGM-136 Tacit Rainbow was described in a 1988 article:
the Tacit Rainbow unmanned jet aircraft being developed by Northrop to loiter on high and then swoop down on enemy radars could be called a UAV, a cruise missile, or even a standoff weapon. But it is most definitely not an RPV.
— Canan, James W. "Unmanned Aerial Vehicles." Air Force Magazine (1988), page 87
Initial role in suppression of enemy air defense
In response to the first generation of fixed-installation surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) such as S-75 and S-125, the U.S. military developed SEAD doctrine and Wild Weasel weapons, including anti-radiation missiles (ARMs) such as AGM-45 Shrike. The Soviet Union countered with mobile SAMs such as 2K12 Kub and intermittent use of radar.[22] In Israel's 1982 Operation Mole Cricket 19, UAVs and air-launched Samson decoys were used over suspected SAM areas to saturate enemy SAMs and to bait them to activate their radar systems, which were then attacked by ARMs.[23][24]
In the 1980s, programs such as the IAI Harpy and AGM-136 Tacit Rainbow integrated anti-radiation sensors into a drone or missile coupled with command and control and loitering capabilities. This allowed the attacking force to put relatively cheap munitions over suspected SAM sites, then attack when the SAM battery was spotted.[25][26][27][28]
Evolution into other roles
Starting in the 2000s, loitering weapons have been developed for additional roles from relatively long-range strikes and fire support[29] to tactical, very-short-range tactical use.[30][31][32][33] In the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, an IAI Harop was used against a bus used as a troop transport for Armenian soldiers.[13] The ZALA Lancet loitering munitions and several one-way attack drones including the HESA Shahed 136, have been used by Russia in the Russo-Ukrainian war, while Ukraine has fielded loitering munitions such as the UJ-25 Skyline and the American-made AeroVironment Switchblade, which is deployed to platoons and fits in a backpack.[citation needed]
During conflicts in the 2010s and 2020s, conventional armies and non-state militants began modifying common commercial racing drones into "FPV loitering munitions" by the attachment of a small explosive, so-named because of the first-person view (FPV) they provide the operator. Explosive ordnance such as an IED, grenade, mortar round or an RPG warhead are fitted to an FPV drone then deployed to aerial bomb tactical targets. FPV drones also allow direct reconnaissance during the drone's strike mission.[34][35]
Since the escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian war in 2022, both Russian and Ukrainian forces were producing thousands of FPV drones every month by October 2023, many of which were donated by volunteer groups.[36] Escadrone Pegasus and the Vyriy Drone Molfar are two examples of the low-cost drones that rapidly evolved in 2022–23 during the war.[37] In 2022, the UK Government announced it was providing "hundreds of loitering munitions" to Ukraine.[38] On 9 November 2023, Ukrainian soldiers claimed to have used a civilian-donated FPV drone to destroy a Russian Tor missile system on the Kupiansk front, showcasing the potential cost-effectiveness of fielding such munitions. A Tor missile system costs some $24 million to build, which could buy 14,000 FPV drones.[39][40]
Some multirole loitering munitions, such as the Eren, made by the Turkish company Roketsan, can play the role of an interceptor drone by destroying enemy aerial platforms including UAVs while retaining their ground attack capabilities.[41][42] On 23 February 2026, a Baykar Bayraktar Akinci[43] UCAV successfully destroyed an target drone with the Eren loitering munition.[42]
Characteristics
Loitering munitions may be as simple as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with attached explosives that is sent on a potential kamikaze mission, and may even be constructed with commercially available quadcopters with strapped-on explosives.[46] Purpose built quadcopter loitering munitions also made such as the STM Kargu.[47]
Purpose-built munitions are more elaborate in flight and control capabilities, warhead size and design, and onboard sensors for locating targets.[48] Most of the loitering munitions use a human operator to remotely locate targets such as IAI Harop.[4] On the other hand, anti-radar loitering munitions such as IAI Harpy can function autonomously searching and launching attacks against radar without human intervention using an anti-radiation seeker.[49][50] Its latest compact variant Mini Harpy is equipped with both the electro-optical targeting system and anti-radiation seeker.
Some loitering munitions have double X-shaped wing configuration such as ZALA Lancet and UVision HERO series.[51] Loitering systems are operated remotely, controlled in real time by a communications system and equipped with an electro-optical camera whose images are received by the command and control station.[52][53]
Some loitering munitions may return and be recovered by the operator if they are unused in an attack and have enough fuel; in particular this is characteristic of UAVs with a secondary explosive capability.[54] Other systems[18] do not have a recovery option and are self-destructed in mission aborts.[citation needed] Some jet-powered loitering munitions such as Roketsan’s Eren and Delilah structures are more similar to missiles than unmanned aerial vehicles.[41][42][55][3]
Countermeasures
Russia has continually utilized ZALA Lancet drones in Ukraine. Since spring 2022 Ukrainian forces have been building cages around their artillery pieces using chain link fencing, wire mesh and even wooden logs as part of the construction. One analyst told Radio Liberty that such cages were "mainly intended to disrupt Russian Lancet munitions."[citation needed] A picture supposedly taken from January 2023 shows the rear half of a Lancet drone that failed to detonate due to such cages. Likewise Ukrainian forces have used inflatable decoys and wooden vehicles, such as HIMARS, to confuse and deceive Lancet drones.[56][57]
Ukrainian soldiers report shooting down Russian drones with sniper rifles.[58] Russian soldiers use electronic warfare to disable or misdirect Ukrainian drones and have reportedly used the Stupor anti-drone rifle, which uses an electromagnetic pulse that disrupts a drone's GPS navigation.[59] A Royal United Services Institute study in 2022 found that Russian Electronic Warfare units, in March and April 2022, knocked out or shot down 90% of Ukrainian drones that they had at the start of the war in February 2022. The main success was in jamming GPS and radio links to the drones.[60]
Both Ukraine and Russia rely on electronic warfare to defeat FPV drones. Such jammers are now used on Ukrainian trenches and vehicles.[61] Russian forces have built jammers that can fit into a backpack.[62] Pocket-size jammers for soldiers were also developed.[63] As of June 2023 Ukraine was losing 5-10,000 drones a month, or 160 per day, according to Ukrainian soldiers.[64]
This has led to Russia creating wire guided FPV drones, similar to a wire-guided missile or even wire-guided torpedoes. Those drones typically have fibre optic cables 5–20 km in length. Such guidance makes the link between operators and FPV drone immune to jamming.[65] It also allows for much faster and better quality updates from the drone, even from locations where radio contact would be poor, and doesn't reveal operator's or drone's location by radio signals.[66][67] They also need less power to communicate, and so can be used to idle on the ground for ambushes.[68] They have reduced range, payload and manoeuvrability compared to wireless drones,[69][70] although in practice, range and agility of the wired drones can be even higher than those of the radio-controlled ones, given their reduced control latency and increased survivability.[71] Ukraine has also responded by using autonomous drones tasking to ensure that a jammed drone can hit a target. In March 2024 footage put on social media showed a Ukrainian FPV drone being jammed just before it struck a target. Despite the loss of operator control it still managed to strike the target.[72]
Russian tanks have been fitted with rooftop slat armor at the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine which could provide protection against loitering munitions in some circumstances. Some Ukrainian tanks taking part in the 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive were also spotted using roof screens.[73][74][75]
On 21 March 2024, recent footage of the submarine Tula showed that it has been fitted with a slat armor to prevent drone strikes, the first ocean-going asset to carry such a modification.[76]
Comparison to similar weapons
Loitering munitions fit in the niche between cruise missiles and unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs).[3][77]
The following table compares similar size-class cruise missiles, loitering munitions, and UCAVS:[citation needed]
| Characteristic | Cruise missile | Loitering munition | UCAV |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost appropriate for expendable one-time use[according to whom?] | Yes | Yes | No, but high cost allows for higher-quality platform |
| Recovery possible after launch | No | Sometimes | Yes, typical mission profile is round-trip |
| Built-in warhead | Yes | Yes | No |
| Stealthy final dive to target | Usually yes | Usually yes | Usually no |
| Loitering | No or limited | Yes | Usually yes |
| Sensors for target acquisition | Limited | Yes | Usually yes |
| Command and control during flight | Usually limited | Yes | Yes |
| Range | ~1500 km[78] | Varies, from 10–1000 km | ~1000 km |
| Speed | Typically higher[vague] | Typically lower[vague] | Depends on role |
| Examples | |||
| Example type |  |
 |
 |
| Range | 1,600 km | 1,000 km | 1,100 km |
| Max speed | high sub-sonic, 880 km/h | 190 km/h | 217 km/h |
| Flight endurance | c. 2 hours | 6 hours | 24 hours |
| Engine | 3.1 kilonewtons (700 lbf) F107-WR-402 turbofan engine | 37 hp (28 kW) Wankel engine | 115 hp (86 kW) Rotax 914F |
| Loaded system weight | 1,588 kg | 135 kg | 1,020 kg |
| Payload | 450 kg warhead | 23 kg warhead | up to 204 kg (2 × AGM-114 Hellfire or 6 × AGM-176 Griffin air-to-surface missiles) |
| Length | 6.25 m | 2.5 m | 8.22 m |
| Wingspan | 2.67 m[79] | 3 m[48] | 16.8 m[80] |
Whereas some cruise missiles, such as the Block IV Tomahawk, have the ability to loiter and have some sensory and remote control features,[81] their primary mission is typically strike and not target acquisition. Cruise missiles, as their name implies, are optimized for long-range flight at constant speed both in terms of propulsion systems and wings or lifting body design. They are often unable to loiter at slow fuel-efficient speeds which significantly reduces potential loiter time even when the missile has some loiter capabilities.[82]
Conversely almost any UAV could be piloted to crash onto a target and most could be fitted with an improvised explosive warhead.[46] However the primary use of a UAV or UCAV would be for recoverable flight operations carrying reconnaissance equipment and/or munitions. While many UAVs are explicitly designed with loitering in mind, they are not optimized for a diving attack, often lacking forward facing cameras, lacking in control response-speed which is unneeded in regular UAV flight, and are noisy when diving, potentially providing warning to the target. UAVs, being designed as multi-use platforms, often have a unit cost that is not appropriate for regular one-time expendable mission use.[83][77] The primary mission of a loitering munition is reaching the suspected target area, target acquisition during a loitering phase, followed by a self-destructive strike, and the munition is optimized in this regard in terms of characteristics (e.g. very short engine lifetime, silence in strike phase, speed of strike dive, optimization toward loitering time instead of range/speed) and unit cost (appropriate for a one-off strike mission).[84][85]
Ethical and international humanitarian law concerns
Loitering munitions that can make autonomous attack decisions (man out of the loop) raise moral, ethical, and international humanitarian law concerns because a human being is not involved in the decision to attack and potentially kill humans. A distinction is often drawn with fire-and-forget missiles in common use since the 1960s, which may lock-on after launch or be sensor-fuzed, but whose flight time is typically limited and a human launches them at an area where enemy activity is strongly suspected. An autonomous loitering munition, on the other hand, may be launched at an area where enemy activity is only probable, and loiter searching autonomously for targets for hours after the initial launch decision, though it may be able to request final authorization for an attack from a human. The IAI Harpy and IAI Harop are frequently cited as aerial systems that set a precedent in this way—though some note that naval mines also loiter and may kill indiscriminately.[86][87][88][89][90][91]
Users and producers
As of 2026[update], loitering munitions are used by the armed forces of several countries, including:
Albania – YIHA-III
Argentina – HERO 30, HERO 120[92]
Armenia – HRESH, BEEB 1800,[93] AW21[94]
Australia – Drone 40,[95] Innovaero OWL
Azerbaijan – IAI Harpy, IAI Harop,[13] SkyStriker, STM Kargu,[96][97] Qirği, Quzgün[98]
Belarus – UBAK-25 Chekan[99], Berkut-BM, Geran-2[100]
Brazil – Anshar[101]
China – IAI Harpy, CH-901, WS-43, ASN-301[102][103]
Egypt – Jabbar-150[104], Jabbar-200[105], Jabbar-250[106] , Voltex-5[107], Voltex-10[108] , Hamza-3[109] , FL350[110] .
France - Switchblade, Colibri, Larinae
Georgia - Delta-WB Warmate[111][112]
Greece – Attalus,[113] Aihmi AHM-1X[114]
Indonesia – Rajata,[115] Minibe[116]
India – Nagastra-1,[117] IAI Harpy, IAI Harop,[118][119] SkyStriker, Warmate, Trinetra, ALS-50,[120] Johnnette JM-1.[121] Shaurya-1, Kadet[122] Loitering Aerial Munition,[123] Overwatch PHOLOS, Zulu DRAP, Sureshastra Mk1, HERO 120, Berkut-BM, Sheshnaag-150
Iran – Hesa Ababil-2, Saqr 358, Meraj-521,[124] Shahin-1,[125] Zhubin[126], Raad 85, Hadid-110 and possibly others[127][128][129]
Israel – UVision Air HERO series,[130][131][132][133], IAI Harpy, IAI Harop, IAI Harpy NG, IAI Green Dragon, IAI Rotem L, Orbiter 1K,[134] Delilah, SkyStriker,[135] Spike Firefly, Viper,[136] Lanius,[137] Point Blank,[138] SpyX,[139] and upgraded variants.[140]
Lithuania – Switchblade[141]
Morocco – IAI Harop, IAI Harpy, SpyX
Pakistan – GIDS Sarkash, E-RAD, Rover LM, Xpear MX-150, NASTP Dark Angel Series, YIHA-III, GIDS Blaze series, NASTP KaGeM V3
Poland – WB Electronics Warmate[142]
Portugal – UAVision Elanus[143]
Russia – ZALA Kub-BLA ("Cube"), ZALA Lancet,[144][145][146] Ushkuynik KVN, Gerbera, BM-35, Molniya[147].
Serbia – Gavran 145,[148][149] Osica,[citation needed] Komarac,[citation needed] Vila 1[citation needed]
Singapore – IAI Harop
Slovakia – AX-2 Predator
South Africa – Paramount N-Raven[150]
South Korea – Devil Killer,[151][152] IAI Harpy
Spain - Q-SLAM-40
Sudan – Kamin-25
Syria - Shaheen[153]
Taiwan – NCSIST Chien Hsiang,[154] NCSIST Fire Cardinal
Turkey - Robit UAV AZAB,[155] IAI Harpy,[156] STM Kargu,[157] STM Alpagu,[158] Transvaro-Havelsan Fedai,[159] LENTATEK Kargı,[160] Roketsan-STM Alpagut[161] , YIHA-III
Turkmenistan – SkyStriker
UAE – QX-1,[162] Hunter SP,[163] Hunter 2-S,[164][165] Hunter 5, Hunter 10,[166] Shadow 25, Shadow 50,[167] RW-24,[citation needed] N-Raven[citation needed]
United Kingdom – Switchblade, Overwatch PHOLOS
United States – ALTIUS-600M, AeroVironment Switchblade, Phoenix Ghost, Raytheon Coyote,[168] HERO 120, Point Blank, Northrop Grumman Lumberjack[169]
Ukraine – ALTIUS-600, AQ-400 Scythe, Bober, Liutyi,[170] Overwatch PHOLOS, Phoenix Ghost, QinetiQ Banshee, RAM II, ST-35 Silent Thunder, Switchblade, UJ-25 Skyline, Warmate, FP-1, FP-2, Chaklun-K, Morok, Palianytsia, Sting (anti-drone loitering munition), Tupolev Tu-141, Tupolev Tu-143, Sypaq Corvo (conversion), Molniya
Yemen – (Houthis) – Qasef-1/2K,[171] Shahed 131, Shahed 136, Samad-2/3, Shahed-101
North Korea
In March 2025, North Korean state media said leader Kim Jong Un oversaw testing of AI-equipped reconnaissance and suicide drones produced by the country's Unmanned Aerial Technology Complex, inspected a new reconnaissance drone and an early warning and control (AEW) aircraft, and pushed to expand the production of unmanned systems, citing their importance in modern warfare.[172]
See also
- Boeing Persistent Munition Technology Demonstrator
- Copperhead (UUV), a family of autonomous unmanned undersea vehicles with loitering munitions capability.[15]
- Flying bomb
- Low Cost Autonomous Attack System
- Sypaq Corvo Precision Payload Delivery System
- Television guidance
- V-1 flying bomb
- XM501 Non-Line-of-Sight Launch System
Notes
- ^ Loitering munitions fit in the niche between cruise missiles and unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs or combat drones), sharing characteristics with both. They differ from cruise missiles in that they are designed to loiter for a relatively long time around the target area, and from UCAVs in that a loitering munition is intended to be expended in an attack and has a built-in warhead. As such, they can also be considered a nontraditional ranged weapon.[17]
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A spokesperson of a Ukrainian brigade operating in the Zaporizhia Oblast reported on October 29 that Russian forces began using first person view drones with fiber optic wires stretching up to 10 kilometers in length against Ukrainian forces in the Zaporizhia direction. The spokesperson added that these drones are reportedly immune to Ukrainian electronic warfare (EW) systems and that Ukrainian personnel had to shoot down these drones with small arms. The spokesperson observed that these drones are susceptible to air defense systems, have greatly limited ranges, and are ineffective in dense urban settings.
- ^ Barnes, Joe (10 January 2025). "How Russia created 'unjammable' drone with a retro twist". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
- ^ O'Grady, Siobhán; Khudov, Kostiantyn; Korolchuk, Serhii; Horton, Alex; Burianova, Tetiana; Morgunov, Serhiy; Karklis, Laris (23 May 2025). "Ukraine scrambles to overcome Russia's edge in fiber-optic drones". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 27 May 2025.
- ^ THOMAS NEWDICK; TYLER ROGOWAY (21 March 2024). "Automated Terminal Attack Capability Appears To Be Making Its Way Into Ukraine's FPV Drones". TWZ.
- ^ "T-72M1 with a roof screen". Twitter.
- ^ Boyko Nikolov (8 May 2023). "Russia is already putting ERAs on the tanks anti-drone grids". bulgarianmilitary.com. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
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Further reading
- Voskuijl, Mark (March 2022). "Performance analysis and design of loitering munitions: A comprehensive technical survey of recent developments". Defence Technology. 18 (3): 325–343. doi:10.1016/j.dt.2021.08.010. ISSN 2214-9147.
External links
Media related to Loitering munition at Wikimedia Commons
