Manual Control Over Russia: What Are The Ukrainian “Bars” Jet Drones Capable Of?

• 7.09.2026, 20:06

An Interview with a Developer.

Ukraine is stepping up its strikes on Russian military targets deep behind enemy lines and has its own missile drones. Among them are the “Bars” missile drones.

The developer of the “Bars” missiles told RBC-Ukraine how engineers are constantly upgrading their own designs, what makes jet-powered UAVs unique, and what the fundamental difference is between a jet-powered drone and a missile. For security reasons, the interviewee’s name is not being disclosed.

– Tell us, how did the development of the “Bars” begin?

– Development of the “Bars” began in 2023. From the start of the full-scale invasion, our team of enthusiasts set a goal to coordinate as closely as possible with the military, so we began as volunteers. And, as a result of our extensive interactions with the military, we repeatedly heard requests from them regarding the need to develop modern weaponry.

In short, this can be summed up with a simple phrase: “We need to be able to respond to the enemy—and respond effectively—and destroy them not only on our territory but also on theirs.”

Consequently, we began searching for such a solution. We started considering how we could equip our defense forces with a capability that would enable the Armed Forces of Ukraine to deliver a truly devastating and effective response.

Among us were—and still are to this day—people who were involved in aviation and model aircraft building, which explains the distinctive appearance of the “Bars,” which does indeed resemble a small airplane.

When developing the jet-powered drone, we faced, if not criticism, then certainly skepticism, because at that time, internal combustion engines were considered the best solution for heavy-class UAVs capable of carrying a 10- to 15-kilogram payload.

But we kept pushing forward with our engineering concepts and testing, and we realized it had to be something fast.

– What are the basic specifications of the “Bars”?

– In short, it’s a jet-powered UAV with a 22.5-kilogram warhead and a range of up to 700 km. But today, we can say that its range is already up to 1,000 km, its warhead weighs up to 60 kg, and its speed exceeds 700 km/h.

– Approximately how much time has passed from the first prototype to mass production?

– If we count from the first basic prototype to today, we’ve already had, I’d say, over 40 “official engineering” upgrades and iterations.

But they shouldn’t be grouped into a single type of drone, because the “Bars” system is designed as a modular platform that allows it to be used in various operational contexts.

In other words, our basic modularity has enabled “Barsa” to have three main categories of application: DeepStrike, “mid-strike,” and “front-strike.” And it is precisely this modularity that has allowed us to balance fuel capacity and payload weight and create several variants of a single drone.

Thus, further modernization—which was aimed at increasing the strike range and the warhead size—resulted in minor changes to the form factor, but the foundation laid during the initial engineering calculations remained intact.

The Most Challenging Solutions, Artificial Intelligence, and Localization

– Which solutions proved to be the most challenging during the development phase?

– Our main advantage is our highly capable R&D team, which is not limited or “boxed in” when searching for new solutions that may initially seem completely unrealistic or impossible.

Still, the biggest challenge is communication stability, because communication is one of the key factors ensuring the effectiveness of our UAVs. As of today, we have the capability to control our drones online while operating behind enemy lines.

– How is artificial intelligence used in your drones?

– By their very nature, drones are designed to eliminate the human factor. Therefore, we use the tools that AI technologies provide us with today and do not shy away from them at any level—from development and solving engineering problems to implementing machine vision in our target-acquisition systems.

So, we use this technology and have achieved significant results; in the so-called “final mile” before the pilot, there are two clear options: either you hand control over to the optical guidance system, or you take control yourself.

– Are you working on localizing production?

– Yes, as of today, the localization rate for “Barsa” is over 74 percent. So far, the only major component we source externally is the turbojet engine. It’s no exaggeration to say we source them from all over the world, but the engine we manufacture has already passed final testing.

International Interest, Legal Status, and Plans for the Future

– Is there interest from international partners in your product?

– Yes, there is interest, and it’s very active. Negotiations with partners at the government level are ongoing because our product has proven effectiveness; we have something to be proud of, and our operators are our best advocates.

We already have a joint venture in Europe, and the plant is set to begin operations in early September. According to our production plans, the first shipments from the joint venture will be delivered to our Armed Forces starting October 10.

As of today, the only limitation on scaling up production of the “Bars” is the so-called “bottleneck,” and this has less to do with volume than with the delivery times for turbojet engines.

However, nothing currently stands in the way of such scaling up, especially following the government’s decision to allow the creation of joint ventures. With the launch of official and transparent export operations, we see opportunities to continue increasing and expanding our production capacity.

– Sometimes the “Bars” is called a drone, and sometimes a missile. Which is correct?

– It’s probably more accurate to call it a “missile-drone.” The presence of a jet engine suggests it’s a missile. But since the “Bars” can be piloted, it might slightly “fall” into the drone category.

However, from a purely legal standpoint, this is an issue where—once again—the competent and professional approach of our military has been of great help to us. We very quickly developed the relevant regulatory documents, which allowed us to put the latest weapons models, including UAVs, into service as quickly as possible.

We took advantage of this opportunity, which is why we are officially classified as UAVs. In other words, legally we are UAVs, but in reality we are missiles.

– And finally—how will the “Bars” of the future differ from the production models currently being manufactured?

– It’s hard to get ahead of ourselves, but I know for sure that the “Bars” will always be a product that makes the most of innovative solutions.

To summarize what our team is currently working on, I’ll put it this way: it will be faster, it will have a significantly greater range, and it will feature a substantial change in payload capacity.