Ukraine with a new drone: Now Thor’s hammer is supposed to help

New medium-range drone

Now Thor’s hammer is supposed to help Ukraine

With the “Thor Hammer”, Ukraine has a new medium-range drone in its arsenal. What the weapon can do.

The Ukrainian defense company SkyFall has introduced a new attack drone. Depending on the version, the “Thor Hammer” will fly 350 or 600 kilometers and carry a warhead weighing 40 to 50 kilograms. According to the company, it will cost $25,000 to $30,000 each.

Several Ukrainian media outlets, including “Militarnyi”, report unanimously about the new drone – but consistently based on information from the manufacturer that cannot be independently verified. This also applies to the statement that the system is already in use at the front.

The drone occupies a category that is called “Middle Strike” in the industry – medium-range attack. Below are FPV drones: small remote-controlled aircraft with camera images that can reach a few dozen kilometers and attack vehicles or positions on the contact line. In addition, there are long-range drones such as the Ukrainian FP-1, which is designed for up to 1,600 kilometers and flies against targets in the Russian hinterland.

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At 350 to 600 kilometers, the “Thor Hammer” targets the space in between: supply depots, command posts, airfields, anti-aircraft positions. It is therefore not possible to equate it with Russian Geran drones, which travel 1,000 to 2,500 kilometers. An evaluation by the Tochnyi analysis group suggests that this middle area is militarily worthwhile: between June 2025 and March 2026, it registered confirmed hits on 237 targets related to air defense as well as on 196 radar and jamming systems.

With a wingspan of 3.5 meters and a length of three meters, the aircraft is compact enough for mobile launch devices. It is launched using a catapult or a rocket booster – both of which work from fixed positions such as trucks. The crew can change position after takeoff before the enemy catches them. According to the manufacturer, assembly takes around 18 minutes. SkyFall names shrapnel and fragmentation explosive charges as warheads.

In flight, the drone independently follows a pre-programmed route, reaching speeds of up to 180 kilometers per hour and a summit height of 4,000 meters. A daytime or thermal imaging camera transmits a video image in real time. Shortly before the target, the system reports to the operator, who decides on the attack. Only after confirmation does the software take over: artificial intelligence and image recognition algorithms correct the final approach.

The decision about the use of weapons therefore formally remains with humans – a point that is at the center of the international legal debate about autonomous weapon systems. The limit is narrow: target recognition and tracking are carried out by machines, humans release a frame, not every control command.