A hard target - Ukraine's Maritime Drone (USV) new in 1/35th scale by MikroMir...

MikroMir are keeping it topical & inspirational with their most recent new  release. Ukraine's Maritime Drone (USV) in 1/35th scale is a great idea for a kit - as long a you like yours in black! We look at the UAV's & the kit in our preview...

A hard target - Ukraine's Maritime Drone (USV) new in 1/35th scale by MikroMir...

Ukraine's Maritime Drone (USV)

by MikroMir

1/35th scale

Plastic & Photo-etch parts

Price: $41.80 USD from Hobbylink Japan

The Subject: Ukraine's Maritime Drones (USV)

The use of drones on the modern battlefield has become a hot topic since the war in Ukraine especially. Not only the land and aerial drones you might have seen, but naval drones on water that attack the enemies' ports and shopping. In the headlines last year was the Ukrainian naval drone, the UAV has become a big deal since the strikes against the Russian sea craft in the seas around Crimea.

A general run down of the drones now in use...

From surveillance to mine counter measures, and from anti-submarine warfare to harbour protection. Yet explosive boat designs have been notably lacking from regular navy’s requirements lists. But those requirements were written in peacetime. Ukraine’s USVs are a product of war. And as the weaponization of commercial drones has shown, peacetime debates on survivability often result in over-engineered and overly expensive solutions. 

Note the small differences between examples as these machines are ever-evolving.

This USV is small, purposeful, and expendable. As ingenious and neatly engineered as they are, they are the sort of thing which can be built in garages if necessary. Ukrainian sources put the unit price at 250,000 USD.

The naval drone found on a beach in Crimea

UAV Specifics:

• Length: 5.5 meters
• Full weight: up to 1,000 kg
• Operational radius: up to 400 km
• Range: up to 430 NM (800 km)
• Autonomy: up to 60 hours
• Combat load: up to 200 kg
• Max speed: 43 knots (80 km/h)
• Navigation methods: automatic GNSS, inertial, visual
• Video transmission: up to 3 HD video streams
• Crypto protection: 256-bit encryption

On October 29, 2022, Unmanned Surface Drone of the Defense Forces of Ukraine attacks the Russia's Admiral Makarov frigate / illustrative image from open sources

The kit from MikroMir

This new plastic injection moulded kit features two sprues of light grey plastic and one small photo-etched sheet. When complete, the total length of the kit will be about 157mm.

The rather simple instruction s and kit construction process...

We would assume that you need no decals, and that the colour would be a very dark grey or matte black. A profile is included, but not sure you will need to recheck it that many times...

This kit is not on the Micro Mir Website yet - but it is on sale for just over $40USD from Hobbylink Japan.