Ukraine’s Bars jet-powered drone to enter production in Germany, with range extended to 1,000 km and warhead payload to 60 kg

A joint Ukrainian-German venture will begin operations in September, producing Ukraine’s Bars jet-powered drones at a manufacturing facility in Germany. A representative of the developer disclosed the plans in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.

According to the company representative, Ukraine’s Defence Forces will begin receiving systems produced by the joint venture from 10 October. The Bars has also received new variants offering increased range and warhead payload.

Baseline specifications of Bars:

• range — up to 700 km;
• warhead weight — 22.5 kg;
• engine type — jet engine.

Stated specifications of the upgraded platform:

• range — up to 1,000 km;
• warhead weight — up to 60 kg;
• speed — over 700 km/h.

The manufacturer said the Bars’ modular design allows the balance between fuel capacity and warhead payload to be adjusted. This has enabled the team to develop several variants of the drone tailored to different mission profiles.

According to the developer, Bars has undergone more than 40 upgrades and design iterations. He also said that the drone can be controlled in real time while operating over enemy territory. During the terminal phase of flight, the operator can retain manual control or hand it over to an optical terminal guidance system.

According to the developer, the localisation rate of Bars exceeds 74%. Its turbojet engines are currently procured from external suppliers, and their delivery lead times limit the scaling up of production.

Defender Media previously reported that Ukraine and Germany had signed an agreement under the Build with Ukraine initiative to jointly manufacture Bars strike UAVs. During the initial phase of the project, the German side will finance production, with all systems manufactured under the programme to be supplied to units of Ukraine’s Defence Forces.