Ukraine’s R18 drone credited with $130 million in Russian losses

This is the kind of return on investment that would cause bottom line-obsessed CEOs around the world to drool to death. According to the Ukraine drone unit Aerorozvidka, the domestically developed R18 UAV deployed in the ongoing war with Russia has already inflicted $130 million in losses of various types of enemy material, or about $670 in military assets vaporized per every dollar the craft costs to produce.

Aerorozvidka made the claim in a Reddit post published Thursday. Although unverifiable, the $130 million tally is even more eye-opening against the Aerorozvidka qualifier that not all Ukraine units using R18 have reported their mission figures – meaning the potential damage wreaked could be greater still. 

The R18 went into operation in 2019 after a two-year development effort Aerorozvidka launched to help battle Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. The octocopter has been a workhorse – and some claim hero – in the nation’s defense…