Serbia’s Vrabac mini-UAV debuts armed variant at Partner 2025 with 40 mm munitions
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Serbia unveiled an armed configuration of the short-range Vrabac UAV at the Partner 2025 defense expo in Belgrade, adding a rack for four 40 mm munitions to a catapult-launched electric airframe. The upgrade shifts Vrabac from pure ISR to limited precision strike.
According to information gathered by Army Recognition on September 25, 2025, during the Partner 2025 defense exhibition in Belgrade, Serbia, the Serbian-built short-range UAV Vrabac appeared in an armed configuration. The platform, familiar in the region as a small reconnaissance craft, now carries a lightweight kinetic payload and a compact bombing mode. What was once a quiet electric scout is being pitched as a pocket strike asset for tactical units who need a catapult-launched eye in the sky that can also deliver a precise sting.Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
Vrabac armed short-range UAV, 3 m wingspan, 11 kg launch weight, 3 kg payload (4×40 mm), ~1 hr endurance and 25 km operational radius, catapult-launched with parachute recovery (Picture source: Army Recognition Group).
The air vehicle remains a handily sized fixed-wing design with a 3-meter wingspan and 1.94-meter fuselage, driven by an electric motor and tractor propeller. Launch is by rail catapult and recovery is either parachute or an airbag landing mode, depending on terrain. The figures place maximum launch weight at 11 kilograms and usable payload at 3 kilograms, a workable envelope for cameras plus a small effects package. The company literature lists fully autonomous navigation with waypoint flight, target surveillance, camera-guided flight, and automatic tracking, the usual toolkit for a modern small UAV, yet notable here because the system is designed for a three-soldier detachment and comes as a complete package of three aircraft, a ground control station, a remote video terminal, transport cases, and tools.
Vrabac tops out at roughly 90 kilometers per hour, cruises near 70, and slows to about 55 for loiter. Endurance is about one hour with an operational radius quoted at 25 kilometers, and operating altitude is set between 300 and 500 meters above ground, a band that helps the electric motor stay quiet while still giving the onboard sensor a stable look angle. The electric engine also matters for signature management; there is no exhaust plume and acoustic output is modest, which keeps detection ranges short in cluttered urban or wooded areas.
The armament is where the update gets interesting. It is described as a “caliber 4×40 mm” with four munitions of approximately 0.22 kilograms each, suggesting a rack for four 40 mm projectiles or mini-bombs that can be dropped individually. For a one-hour electric UAV it marks a practical shift from pure ISR to limited strike. Think point effects against an antenna on a roof, a light vehicle windshield, a generator, or a group of personnel exposed on a trench line. A bombing mode controlled through the camera feed is also listed. With autonomous guidance holding the track, the operator can focus on release timing rather than wrestling with the flight path, which is exactly what small teams need under fire.
A platoon or border patrol deploys the catapult from a pickup bed or a small field, throws Vrabac into a 15-minute reconnaissance pattern, and then retains the option to drop one or more 40 mm rounds when fleeting targets appear. The low altitude window favors target identification. The 25-kilometer zone covers most company-sized fights without handing off to another control node. The ability to recover by parachute or airbag saves wear on the airframe and lets crews operate from rocky or muddy ground where skids would suffer. Because the system package includes a remote video terminal, commanders who are not flying the aircraft can still watch the feed and clear a release, a small but important control measure.
The introduction of an armed Vrabac lands in a crowded, fast-moving drone market where cost, availability, and training time can outweigh exquisite performance. Conflicts from the Donbas to the Middle East have normalized the use of small fixed-wing and multirotor systems as ad-hoc strike platforms. Serbia’s industry is angling for a niche there, offering a low-signature, battery-powered airframe that stays below the noise of larger, export-restricted types. For neighbors balancing budgets or for forces that want to push more attritable drones forward, an 11-kilogram UAV that can carry four 40 mm drops is a realistic buy. It also fits a domestic security role that Belgrade regularly emphasizes: border and coastline patrol, power-line and pipeline surveillance, and even forest fire monitoring, all functions cited by the manufacturer alongside military use. None of those missions preclude fitting a small effects kit, and in today’s environment, dual-use platforms that pivot quickly from surveillance to interdiction are the ones that move.
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Serbia unveiled an armed configuration of the short-range Vrabac UAV at the Partner 2025 defense expo in Belgrade, adding a rack for four 40 mm munitions to a catapult-launched electric airframe. The upgrade shifts Vrabac from pure ISR to limited precision strike.
According to information gathered by Army Recognition on September 25, 2025, during the Partner 2025 defense exhibition in Belgrade, Serbia, the Serbian-built short-range UAV Vrabac appeared in an armed configuration. The platform, familiar in the region as a small reconnaissance craft, now carries a lightweight kinetic payload and a compact bombing mode. What was once a quiet electric scout is being pitched as a pocket strike asset for tactical units who need a catapult-launched eye in the sky that can also deliver a precise sting.
Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
Vrabac armed short-range UAV, 3 m wingspan, 11 kg launch weight, 3 kg payload (4×40 mm), ~1 hr endurance and 25 km operational radius, catapult-launched with parachute recovery (Picture source: Army Recognition Group).
The air vehicle remains a handily sized fixed-wing design with a 3-meter wingspan and 1.94-meter fuselage, driven by an electric motor and tractor propeller. Launch is by rail catapult and recovery is either parachute or an airbag landing mode, depending on terrain. The figures place maximum launch weight at 11 kilograms and usable payload at 3 kilograms, a workable envelope for cameras plus a small effects package. The company literature lists fully autonomous navigation with waypoint flight, target surveillance, camera-guided flight, and automatic tracking, the usual toolkit for a modern small UAV, yet notable here because the system is designed for a three-soldier detachment and comes as a complete package of three aircraft, a ground control station, a remote video terminal, transport cases, and tools.
Vrabac tops out at roughly 90 kilometers per hour, cruises near 70, and slows to about 55 for loiter. Endurance is about one hour with an operational radius quoted at 25 kilometers, and operating altitude is set between 300 and 500 meters above ground, a band that helps the electric motor stay quiet while still giving the onboard sensor a stable look angle. The electric engine also matters for signature management; there is no exhaust plume and acoustic output is modest, which keeps detection ranges short in cluttered urban or wooded areas.
The armament is where the update gets interesting. It is described as a “caliber 4×40 mm” with four munitions of approximately 0.22 kilograms each, suggesting a rack for four 40 mm projectiles or mini-bombs that can be dropped individually. For a one-hour electric UAV it marks a practical shift from pure ISR to limited strike. Think point effects against an antenna on a roof, a light vehicle windshield, a generator, or a group of personnel exposed on a trench line. A bombing mode controlled through the camera feed is also listed. With autonomous guidance holding the track, the operator can focus on release timing rather than wrestling with the flight path, which is exactly what small teams need under fire.
A platoon or border patrol deploys the catapult from a pickup bed or a small field, throws Vrabac into a 15-minute reconnaissance pattern, and then retains the option to drop one or more 40 mm rounds when fleeting targets appear. The low altitude window favors target identification. The 25-kilometer zone covers most company-sized fights without handing off to another control node. The ability to recover by parachute or airbag saves wear on the airframe and lets crews operate from rocky or muddy ground where skids would suffer. Because the system package includes a remote video terminal, commanders who are not flying the aircraft can still watch the feed and clear a release, a small but important control measure.
The introduction of an armed Vrabac lands in a crowded, fast-moving drone market where cost, availability, and training time can outweigh exquisite performance. Conflicts from the Donbas to the Middle East have normalized the use of small fixed-wing and multirotor systems as ad-hoc strike platforms. Serbia’s industry is angling for a niche there, offering a low-signature, battery-powered airframe that stays below the noise of larger, export-restricted types. For neighbors balancing budgets or for forces that want to push more attritable drones forward, an 11-kilogram UAV that can carry four 40 mm drops is a realistic buy. It also fits a domestic security role that Belgrade regularly emphasizes: border and coastline patrol, power-line and pipeline surveillance, and even forest fire monitoring, all functions cited by the manufacturer alongside military use. None of those missions preclude fitting a small effects kit, and in today’s environment, dual-use platforms that pivot quickly from surveillance to interdiction are the ones that move.
