Alert: Russia extends unmanned strike range and tactics with launch of Dan-M UAV from Mi-8 helicopter
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On May 31, 2025, Russia’s KRONSHTADT Dan-M jet-powered UAV was launched from a Mi-8 helicopter of the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS), as reported by Russian defense media. Originally an air defense target drone, the Dan-M is now used as a low-cost kamikaze UAV. Footage analyzed by Army Recognition shows this air-launch method extends operational range and flexibility. The innovation aims to counter Ukrainian air defenses and has key geostrategic implications in the Black Sea region.Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
By turning Mi-8s into drone carriers, Russia diversifies its aerial threat vectors against Ukraine (Picture Source: Telegram/Milinfolive)
The Dan-M UAV, developed by Russian defense firm KRONSHTADT, is a small turbojet-powered drone initially built for training air defense units. It features a compact design, 4.6 meters long with a wingspan of 2.7 meters, and is powered by a turbojet engine allowing speeds between 400 and 750 km/h, with an operational ceiling of 9,000 meters and a 40-minute endurance. Now modified into a one-way strike drone, it carries a high-explosive warhead of approximately 40 kg. Normally launched from ground-based ramps with a solid-fuel booster, the air-launch from a Mi-8 helicopter removes this booster phase, thereby increasing range while reducing launch preparation time and cost.
Originally developed as a low-cost substitute for cruise missiles, the Dan-M’s transformation from target drone to operational weapon reflects Russia’s adaptive defense industrial strategy. Russian media first documented this shift in 2024 when Dan-M drones were reportedly used from Crimea against Ukrainian targets. The helicopter-launched variant offers further flexibility: Mi-8 helicopters can fly hundreds of kilometers before launch, reposition rapidly, and avoid fixed launch-site vulnerabilities. The evolution of the Dan-M mirrors broader trends in Russian UAV doctrine, where multi-role use of existing airframes is key to coping with sanctions and battlefield attrition. In effect, this adapts the Mi-8’s role from pure transport or gunship to an aerial drone carrier, part of Russia’s hybrid aviation-UAV integration.
Compared to similar low-cost loitering munitions and converted target drones used in Syria or Ukraine, such as Iran’s Shahed-136 or the converted Western Firebee drones, the Dan-M offers superior speed, altitude, and flexibility through the helicopter air-launch mode. The Mi-8-based launch increases the standoff distance, complicates Ukrainian air defense interception planning, and allows Russian forces to adapt launch profiles based on battlefield dynamics. Russia likely adopted this method to counter the growing density of Ukrainian SAM systems, which increasingly neutralize ground-launched drones. The new tactic allows Mi-8 helicopters to deliver drones from positions well behind Russian front lines, even from airspace over Crimea or southern Russia.
The strategic implications of this development are notable. By turning Mi-8s into drone carriers, Russia diversifies its aerial threat vectors against Ukraine. This forces Ukrainian air defenses to cover not just low-level loitering munitions but also fast, high-altitude kamikaze drones released mid-air from helicopters that can approach from unexpected vectors. It also reflects Russia’s shift toward more sustainable unmanned strike concepts: Mi-8s and Dan-Ms represent a cost-effective combination compared to cruise missiles. The concept will likely proliferate; as Army Recognition suggests, Russian forces are expected to employ these helicopter-launched Dan-M strikes more regularly to overwhelm and saturate Ukrainian defenses, particularly around strategic targets such as Odesa, Mykolaiv, and energy infrastructure. Geopolitically, it reflects Russia’s efforts to maintain pressure on Ukraine while mitigating its own missile stock limitations.
This innovative use of Mi-8 helicopters as drone launchers signals an important adaptation in Russia’s aerial strike doctrine. The air-launch of Dan-M UAVs extends both operational range and survivability of unmanned strikes, while offering a cost-efficient complement to Russia’s dwindling cruise missile inventories. As Ukraine’s defenses become more layered, the flexibility and stealth of these helicopter-launched drones will pose an increasingly complex threat in the Black Sea and southern Ukraine theater.
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On May 31, 2025, Russia’s KRONSHTADT Dan-M jet-powered UAV was launched from a Mi-8 helicopter of the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS), as reported by Russian defense media. Originally an air defense target drone, the Dan-M is now used as a low-cost kamikaze UAV. Footage analyzed by Army Recognition shows this air-launch method extends operational range and flexibility. The innovation aims to counter Ukrainian air defenses and has key geostrategic implications in the Black Sea region.
Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
By turning Mi-8s into drone carriers, Russia diversifies its aerial threat vectors against Ukraine (Picture Source: Telegram/Milinfolive)
The Dan-M UAV, developed by Russian defense firm KRONSHTADT, is a small turbojet-powered drone initially built for training air defense units. It features a compact design, 4.6 meters long with a wingspan of 2.7 meters, and is powered by a turbojet engine allowing speeds between 400 and 750 km/h, with an operational ceiling of 9,000 meters and a 40-minute endurance. Now modified into a one-way strike drone, it carries a high-explosive warhead of approximately 40 kg. Normally launched from ground-based ramps with a solid-fuel booster, the air-launch from a Mi-8 helicopter removes this booster phase, thereby increasing range while reducing launch preparation time and cost.
Originally developed as a low-cost substitute for cruise missiles, the Dan-M’s transformation from target drone to operational weapon reflects Russia’s adaptive defense industrial strategy. Russian media first documented this shift in 2024 when Dan-M drones were reportedly used from Crimea against Ukrainian targets. The helicopter-launched variant offers further flexibility: Mi-8 helicopters can fly hundreds of kilometers before launch, reposition rapidly, and avoid fixed launch-site vulnerabilities. The evolution of the Dan-M mirrors broader trends in Russian UAV doctrine, where multi-role use of existing airframes is key to coping with sanctions and battlefield attrition. In effect, this adapts the Mi-8’s role from pure transport or gunship to an aerial drone carrier, part of Russia’s hybrid aviation-UAV integration.
Compared to similar low-cost loitering munitions and converted target drones used in Syria or Ukraine, such as Iran’s Shahed-136 or the converted Western Firebee drones, the Dan-M offers superior speed, altitude, and flexibility through the helicopter air-launch mode. The Mi-8-based launch increases the standoff distance, complicates Ukrainian air defense interception planning, and allows Russian forces to adapt launch profiles based on battlefield dynamics. Russia likely adopted this method to counter the growing density of Ukrainian SAM systems, which increasingly neutralize ground-launched drones. The new tactic allows Mi-8 helicopters to deliver drones from positions well behind Russian front lines, even from airspace over Crimea or southern Russia.
The strategic implications of this development are notable. By turning Mi-8s into drone carriers, Russia diversifies its aerial threat vectors against Ukraine. This forces Ukrainian air defenses to cover not just low-level loitering munitions but also fast, high-altitude kamikaze drones released mid-air from helicopters that can approach from unexpected vectors. It also reflects Russia’s shift toward more sustainable unmanned strike concepts: Mi-8s and Dan-Ms represent a cost-effective combination compared to cruise missiles. The concept will likely proliferate; as Army Recognition suggests, Russian forces are expected to employ these helicopter-launched Dan-M strikes more regularly to overwhelm and saturate Ukrainian defenses, particularly around strategic targets such as Odesa, Mykolaiv, and energy infrastructure. Geopolitically, it reflects Russia’s efforts to maintain pressure on Ukraine while mitigating its own missile stock limitations.
This innovative use of Mi-8 helicopters as drone launchers signals an important adaptation in Russia’s aerial strike doctrine. The air-launch of Dan-M UAVs extends both operational range and survivability of unmanned strikes, while offering a cost-efficient complement to Russia’s dwindling cruise missile inventories. As Ukraine’s defenses become more layered, the flexibility and stealth of these helicopter-launched drones will pose an increasingly complex threat in the Black Sea and southern Ukraine theater.
