On July 26, Advisor to the President of Ukraine and radio technology specialist Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov published photographs of the current serial version of the Russian FPV drone “Boomerang.” According to him, the drone has received a number of technical upgrades that increase its resilience against electronic warfare systems.
Among the upgrades are a target guidance system, diversity signal reception (the use of multiple spatially separated antennas for more stable communication between the operator and the drone), a mechanism for rapidly changing antenna operating frequencies, and video signal transmission at frequencies above 6 GHz.
“This is what the enemy’s modern serial drone ‘Boomerang’ looks like. Target guidance, diversity reception, rapid frequency switching on antennas, video above 6 GHz,” — wrote “Flash.”
Serial “Boomerangs” are capable of operating at frequencies up to 7.2 GHz — a range not covered by most drone detectors.
“Boomerang” is a serial quadcopter-type FPV drone that Russians use primarily to strike ground targets. The enemy’s Ministry of Defense first publicly demonstrated it in March 2023, and within a few weeks Ukrainian forces captured the first trophy specimen. Early versions featured a simple fiberglass frame and consisted mostly of readily available civilian components of Chinese manufacture.
Several modifications of this drone are currently being recorded at the front. According to data from the War&Sanctions portal, one of the first versions of the FPV kamikaze “Boomerang” had a maximum takeoff weight of 3.1 kg, a payload weight of up to 2 kg, a speed of approximately 200 km/h, a flight endurance of up to 15 minutes, a range of up to 5 km, and a maximum flight altitude of up to 1,000 m.
The “Boomerang-E” modification is heavier — up to 5.8 kg takeoff weight and up to 4 kg payload, with a flight range of up to 10 km and a maximum altitude of up to 3,000 m. The control frequency range of this version is 868–950 MHz, and video transmission is 5,333–5,945 MHz.
In publishing the photos, Beskrestnov also addressed Ukrainian drone detector manufacturers and urged them to take into account the new operating parameters of the “Boomerangs” when developing and updating detection systems.