New Video Shows Ukraine’s FPV Drone Firing Mounted Grenade Launcher
Footage posted online on June 15 shows a Ukrainian Queen Hornet FPV drone firing a rocket-propelled grenade at a Russian target. It is the clearest video to date of a grenade launcher fired midair from a first-person-view drone.
While specifics of the strike remain unconfirmed, the first documented use of this system occurred on May 13.
Ukrainian drone with a grenade launcher strapped to the bottom of it.
Don’t see an impact. Conceptually, however…. pic.twitter.com/CdmXBzSHEn
— FUNKER530 (@FunkerActual) June 20, 2025
The May 13 strike marked the first confirmed combat use of a grenade launcher mounted on a Queen Hornet FPV drone, according to the Wild Hornets. The Kyiv-based military technology company said the drone fired a single-use Bulspike-AP grenade launcher and killed a Russian infantryman in the Novopavlivka sector.
The operation was conducted by the Bulava unmanned systems unit of the 3rd Mechanized Battalion, part of the Bohdan Khmelnytskyi Independent Presidential Brigade.
Video posted on the brigade’s Telegram channel appears to show a direct hit on an exposed Russian soldier. The Ukrainian defense outlet Militarnyi reported that the drone used in the strike was a modified 15-inch heavy-lift platform.
First combat use of a drone with a grenade launcher by @wilendhornets https://t.co/3hem13tqLX pic.twitter.com/I1DMlwt2MI
— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) May 13, 2025
The Bulspike-AP system fires an OG-22M high-explosive fragmentation grenade. On impact, it disperses more than 1,000 fragments and has an effective direct-fire range of around 100 meters, according to Wild Hornets.
A drone operator using the call sign “Diego Rodriguez” told the Kyiv Post that grenade-equipped drones provide tactical advantages over standard kamikaze models. He said that while traditional FPV drones are noisy and visible, grenade rounds arrive almost instantly and are harder to counter. “A kamikaze drone is loud and visible,” Rodriguez said. “You get warning. A grenade round arrives almost instantly. You cannot dodge it.”
Vadym Feshchenko, a former grenadier with the call sign “Sonik,” called the adaptation a significant change in drone warfare. He said the new approach reduces the time infantry troops have to move safely while under drone surveillance. He also noted that modern grenade rounds can penetrate up to seven centimeters of armor, making them effective against light vehicles and fortified positions.
Wild Hornets said that more than 100 Queen Hornet drones are already in service across the front. The company added that monthly production is increasing. The platform’s modular design allows it to serve in multiple roles including loitering munition, supply transport, communications relay, and drone carrier. About 65 percent of the components, including key electronics, are manufactured in Ukraine.
