SAN DIEGO — The Ukrainian military will soon begin tracking and attacking Russian forces with a secret new "suicide drone" produced by Aevex Aerospace, a little-known Solana Beach, California, company that has considerable experience with unmanned aerial systems.
The Biden administration is sending 121 of the company's Phoenix Ghost drones to Ukraine, where they will are expected to get heavy use in the eastern part of the country. Russian forces have regrouped there and are somewhat exposed in flat, open territory similar to California's Central Valley.
Defense analysts say it appears the Phoenix Ghost will loiter in the sky, quietly looking for targets. Once it finds one, the drone goes into a dive and rams the object, setting off its explosive warhead. Analysts speculate that it is a comparatively small weapon that could be hard to see against the cloud cover that shrouds much of Ukraine in late April and in May.
