US Army Buys Battle-Tested Ukraine Observation Drone

The US Army has signed a $10.64 million contract to buy Ukrainian-made Raybird reconnaissance drones from a leading manufacturer, Ukrainian military information platforms reported over the weekend. A Sept. 18 announcement published by the US Department of Defense said the North Las Vegas-based company Skyeton Inc. won the contract via a fixed-price internet tender in which no other bidders participated.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. According to the contract, Skyeton will deliver Ukrainian Raybird (ACS-3) reconnaissance drones to the Army’s weapons development and testing facility – Redstone Arsenal in Alabama. Skyeton will provide support equipment along with the unmanned aircraft and complete the contract by Dec. 15, 2026, the announcement said. Contract announcement information did not specify the quantity of aircraft to be delivered. Skyeton’s founder Oleksandr Stepura, in 2024 comments, said his company was selling Raybird systems consisting of three unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), a portable ground-control station, antenna system, launcher, and optical/photo/radar equipment for $1.2 million. According to those comments, Skyeton’s component production has been completed in Ukraine and Slovakia. The Raybird is, by Ukrainian military standards, a medium-sized reconnaissance aircraft with a maximum takeoff weight of 23 kg (64 lbs) and a wingspan from 2.96 to 4.2 meters (9.7 to 13.8 feet). It is launched with a simple catapult and lands by parachute. Other Topics of Interest Drones Target Major Russian Oil Hub 1,600 Kilometers From Ukraine The reported attack on Ufa may have targeted Bashneft’s vast refinery complex as drone alerts prompted authorities to temporarily halt flights at the city’s airport. The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) have operated the Raybird since 2018 and consider the UAV one of their most reliable and tested reconnaissance platforms. In 2025, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense called the drone a workhorse with more than 350,000 operational flight hours and dozens of combat missions flown daily. The Raybird’s most important features usually cited by observers are its ability to perform long-term observations for as much as a day, reportedly between 24 and 28 hours, a maximum range of 2,500 km (1,500 miles), while passing live video feeds back to base via communication channels within 200-plus km (125-plus miles). The AFU operates a deep bench of domestically manufactured drones along with the Raybird, including the deep reconnaissance Shark, the heavier attack-capable long-range PD-2, and shorter-range tactical reconnaissance and artillery spotter drones like the Leleka-100, Furia, and Valkyrie. Ukrainian forces often use the Raybird for observation missions requiring long-term presence of a drone carrying multiple sensor systems like infrared, thermal and conventional video cameras, in hunts for high-priority targets. A frequent Raybird mission in the Russo-Ukrainian War is deep patrol behind Russian lines searching for long-range Russian attack weapons or air defense systems, so that a found target might be hit by precision-guided rockets or kamikaze drones. According to the manufacturer, the aircraft has protected data links and enhanced antennae allowing it to pass precise locations of found targets directly to an artillery battery or attack drone crew, even in the face of heavy jamming to GPS and control-system data links. Reportedly in February 2026, satellite link capability was integrated into the Raybird’s communications system, a technology that helps a drone operate at greater range even if jammed. According to company announcements, the Skyeton US subsidiary is investing over $3.1 million in retrofitting a former Black & Decker plant near Fayetteville Regional Airport and Fort Bragg military base. The development project, one of the first ever by a Ukrainian aerospace company in the US, will reportedly create 162 jobs. The first widely reported US order for military drones from Ukraine was won by the Ukrainian manufacturer F-Drones in late 2025 for the delivery of 2,000 first-person view (FPV) drones to the US Army for testing and evaluation. The sale was part of a larger US Army $1.1 project testing FPV drones from dozens of companies worldwide, with the objective of picking one or more aircraft for US military use. The competition held at Fort Benning, Georgia, in Feb. 2026, was called Gauntlet I. The F-Drones Gauntlet I entrant, the F10, a conventional large quadcopter designed to carry an enhanced battery and an explosive payload of around 5 kg (11 lbs), placed sixth and was one of 11 out of 25 aircraft picked by the Army for further evaluation. FPV drones of that type usually cost between $400-$800 when manufactured in Ukraine for AFU use. At a second, run-off series of tests called Gauntlet II, held at Ft. Carson, Colorado, in August, 19 companies supplied 120 drones to flyoffs comparing the FPVs’ suitability for close-in tactical attacks and long-range operational attacks. Winners were to become suppliers to help fill a roughly $300 million order package for 60,000 FPV drones to be used by the US military. The only Ukrainian entrant in the competition, the F10, did not score top five in either the long-range or tactical categories. However, F-Drones CEO Stanislav Khutor, in June comments to the LB.UA news platform, said his company was moving ahead with plans to build an Ohio-based FPV drone production facility and that F-Drones would manufacture drones in the US under license for the US military, and company-developed drones for export. Before 2026, Ukraine effectively banned export of drones and drone technologies on grounds of national security and the need for drones to defend itself from Russia. A July 2026 order changed the rules, making it possible for selective export provided Ukrainian domestic demand is met, and intellectual property rights are sufficiently protected. Ukraine is a world drone manufacturing leader with an estimated 450-600 companies producing drones, of which about one-quarter are capable of mass production. Ukraine probably manufactured at least 3 million drones of all types in 2025, and according to an official statement, will produce 5-7 million in 2026. US production is currently an order of magnitude lower, with the Pentagon only in December 2025 opening solicitations with the objective of 300,000 drones manufactured in the US in a year.