FPV RPG Drones: Russia’s Scaled-Up, Cheap, & Lethal Solution vs. Light Armor

Russia has massively ramped up the use of FPV drones fitted with rocket/grenade launchers — not a novelty, but now fielded at scale and with battlefield effect.

Building on earlier experiments (Belarus’ RPG-26 drone, Ukraine’s “Demon” with RPG-7, Norway’s tests), Russian teams favor RPG-18/22 mounts: light, low-recoil, inexpensive, and precise enough to defeat light armor and fortifications.

Why it matters:
• Simplicity = volume.

Russian designs sacrifice complexity for cost and mass production, letting units swarm targets rather than relying on a few high-end systems.

• Ideal use case.

These drones excel against soft-skinned vehicles, logistics convoys, exposed crews, and field fortifications.

• Tactical effect.

FPV teams can pick ammunition to match the target, ignite vehicle fires, and then re-engage fleeing personnel with follow-up strikes.

• Evolution, not accident.

This is part of a wider trend of combining off-the-shelf munitions with agile UAS tactics to create asymmetric, hard-to-counter threats.

Expect continued innovation and wider deployment as units prioritize cheap lethality and rapid production over expensive sophistication.