New Russian drone “Chernika” with homing – why it is dangerous

Recently, the Russian Federation struck Ukrainian city Kharkiv for the first time using a Chernika drone, a larger version of which has a homing function, a range of up to 100 km, and is already being manufactured in thousands.

For the first time since the beginning of the invasion, a kamikaze drone strike by the Blackberry was recorded, as reported by Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov. The drones of this series are manufactured in two versions, the lightweight Chernika-1 and the heavier Chernika-2.

The Russian Federation has had these drones in its possession for quite some time, and in March 2024 it was reported that more than 7,500 units of Chernik-1 had been produced. And in April 2024, it was reported that more than 4,000 units of Chernik-2 had been produced.

The Blueberry-1 kamikaze drone is a flying wing drone made of foam. It has a maximum range of up to 80 km, a cruising speed of 75 km/h, and a maximum flight altitude of 1.5 km.

It is launched from a catapult or by hand. The warhead weighs 0.7 kg and is probably of the fragmentation and explosive type; this drone is mainly used against vehicles and infantry.

The larger version of Chernyk-2 is more dangerous than the first model. It has a larger warhead weighing up to 3.5 kg, which is already designed to destroy dugouts and heavy equipment. It also has an extended range of up to 100 km.

However, the most important thing is that some Russian sources report that the target is equipped with a homing function, which may make it immune to electronic warfare during an attack. Chernika-2 is also equipped with an autopilot function to a specific target area, so the operator does not need to constantly control it, but only at the final part of the flight.

This, combined with their likely low cost, makes them massive and very dangerous. They are comparable in concept to another Russian drone, the Molniya, which also uses simple materials in its construction.

We need to constantly monitor the Russians’ technological progress and look for ways to counteract or get ahead of them. We recently wrote that this year the Armed Forces will receive more than 4 million drones.