Vyriy Industries reveals price and configuration of Slavic reconnaissance drone

Ukrainian defence tech company Vyriy Industries has disclosed new details about its Slavic reconnaissance UAV, including its cost, component origins, and configuration. The manufacturer said that one drone with a battery and a case costs UAH 200,000, while a complete unmanned aircraft system costs UAH 1.35 million.

The company also said that if the enemy captures the drone, it won’t be able to obtain critical information about the launch site. The company is currently working on a thermal-imaging version of Slavic.

What the Slavic UAS includes

Oleksii “Shtorm”, Slavic product manager, spoke about the system in a Vyriy Industries video. The company published additional information on Instagram.

The complete UAH 1.35 million system includes:

• five drones;
• ten batteries;
• a ground control station;
• cables;
• a charger;
• a set of spare parts.

The ground equipment also includes a mast, a rotating mechanism and an antenna module.

According to Vyriy Industries, the Slavic system costs about 12% more than a comparable DJI Matrice 4E-based package, which the company estimates at around UAH 1.2 million. The manufacturer attributes the difference to Slavic’s configuration, flight endurance and tactical operating range.

A twisted-pair cable connects the antenna, which, according to the company, can be repaired directly in the field.

Components manufactured in Ukraine

Slavic is developed and manufactured in Ukraine. According to Vyriy Industries, the following components are of Ukrainian origin:

• the frame and body;
• antennas;
• flight controller;
• electronic speed controllers;
• navigation system.

The company sources the remote controller from the United States, microcomputers from Europe, and the camera, motors, and propellers from China. The company explains that imported components are used to supply ready-to-use systems to the military while Ukrainian components are developed in parallel.

Communications and data protection

The drone uses a digital communications system manufactured in a partner country. Vyriy Industries does not disclose the manufacturer’s name for security reasons.

The company also claims that, if the drone is captured, the enemy will be unable to obtain critical information about its launch site or home point. The manufacturer did not disclose technical details on how it implements this protection.

Configurations being tested

Vyriy Industries continues to test additional equipment for Slavic. The company is working on a thermal camera to enable daytime and nighttime use, but has not specified when this configuration will be ready.

Separately, the developers are testing Slavic with additional payload weight and in a relay-carrier configuration.

The Defender previously reported on the presentation of Slavic. The drone can remain airborne for up to 1.5 hours and operate at a tactical range of up to 30 km. It is equipped with a 40,000 mAh battery, an optical positioning system and a 2,000 digital camera with 10× optical and 30× hybrid zoom. At the time of its presentation, Slavic had completed initial combat trials with seven Defence Forces units.