Cruise missile S8000 Banderol: Ukrainian intelligence reveals details of Russia's low-cost weapon

For several weeks, Russia has been using a new drone system called Banderol against the Odesa region. Little had been known about it so far: only that it has a jet engine and flies at between 400 and 500 km/h. Now, for the first time, the Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR) of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence has published more detailed information on the new Russian cruise missile.

According to the GUR, it was developed by Kronstadt, the Russian drone manufacturer that also builds the Orion drones of the medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) class. The S8000 Banderol was first shown publicly on 26 April, when Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, visited the Kapustin Yar test site in the Astrakhan region.

The cruise missile in figures

Banderol's warhead weighs up to 150 kilograms. The weapon can cover up to 500 kilometres, with a cruising speed of 520 to 560 km/h and a peak of 620 to 650 km/h. It runs on kerosene. The fuselage, which features stealth elements, is around five metres long; the retractable wing spans 2.2 metres. Banderol is powered by an SW800Pro-A95 turbojet engine weighing 8.5 kilograms and delivering 80 kilograms of thrust.

The engine is made by the Chinese company Swiwin Turbine & Jets. It can be bought freely on well-known Chinese trading platforms for around 35,000 to 40,000 euros. The fuel load is estimated at 50 to 65 kilograms.

Notably, the missile can fly tighter turns than typical Russian cruise missiles (X-101, 3M-14, 9M727, X-69) without abandoning the flight path characteristic of this weapon class.

The Orion MALE drone serves as the launch platform, and the Mil Mi-28N attack helicopter is also named as a possible carrier. Combat aircraft, however, are ruled out because the missile's structure is too weak for them.

Components from the West – despite sanctions

The GUR has identified numerous components of non-Russian origin:

• an RFD900x telemetry module made in Australia, or a Chinese copy of it
• an inertial navigation system, presumably from China
• batteries from Japanese manufacturer Murata
• Dynamixel MX-64AR servo actuators from Robotis of South Korea
• a jam-resistant antenna for the global navigation satellite system (GNSS), type Comet-M8, from Russian manufacturer VNIIR-Progress
• almost two dozen microchips from American, Chinese, Swiss, Japanese and South Korean manufacturers

The War Sanctions platform shows how many components have been identified so far. The quantity suggests that Ukraine has already been able to recover enough parts from Banderol cruise missiles that were shot down or crashed.