The Aevex Phoenix Ghost is a family of aerial

loitering munition A loitering munition, also known as a suicide drone, kamikaze drone, or exploding drone, is a weapon with a warhead that is typically designed to Loiter (aeronautics), loiter until a target is designated, then crash into it.American company Aevex Aerospace. According to a senior US defense official, initial versions were broadly similar to the

AeroVironment Switchblade The AeroVironment Switchblade is a miniature loitering munition designed by AeroVironment and used by several branches of the United States Armed Forces, United States military. Small enough to fit in a backpack, the Switchblade launches from a ...

, but later designs were larger and more capable.

Capabilities

The Phoenix Ghost's primary purpose is to deliver an explosive munition to a human-selected target. The drone can loiter over an area for up to six hours, and can conduct surveillance. It is effective against medium-armored ground targets. It has infrared sensors for night operations. In October 2024, Aevex revealed that Phoenix Ghost wasn't a single drone, but an effort that produced several designs of different sizes and configurations. Examples include: *Atlas, a

Group 2 The term Group 2 may refer to: * Alkaline earth metal The alkaline earth metals are six chemical elements in group (periodic table), group 2 of the periodic table. They are beryllium (Be), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), strontium (Sr), barium (B ...

drone weighing including an payload with endurance of 1-2 hours and range of 74 mi (120 km). *Disruptor, a Group 3 drone with a

v-tail The V-tail or ''vee-tail'' (sometimes called a butterfly tail or Rudlicki's V-tailGudmundsson S. (2013). "General Aviation Aircraft Design: Applied Methods and Procedures" (Reprint). Butterworth-Heinemann. p. 489. , 9780123973290) of an aircraf ...

in length weighing or more with a payload, endurance of 4.5 hours and range of 372 mi (598 km), launched

pneumatically Pneumatics (from Greek 'wind, breath') is the use of gas or pressurized air in mechanical systems. Pneumatic systems used in industry are commonly powered by compressed air or compressed inert gases. A centrally located and electrically- ...

or through RATO. Closely resembles Iranian Shahed 101. *Dominator, a Group 3 drone similar in size and launching method to Disruptor but in a twin-boom configuration, weighing or more and having endurance of 4.6 hours and range of 293 mi (492 km).

History

In April 2022, the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and superv ...

stated that the Ghost was developed before the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

and that it was a "close match" for the needs of the

Armed Forces of Ukraine The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are the Military, military forces of Ukraine. All military and security forces, including the Armed Forces, are under the command of the president of Ukraine and subject to oversight by a permanent Verkhovna Rad ...

in the battle of Donbas. It was later revealed that the Phoenix Ghost was a project under the Big Safari weapons program. After initially sending 120 in April, it was announced in July 2022 that another 580 Phoenix Ghosts would be delivered beginning the next month as part of the

Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative or USAI is a United States Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Defense-led funding program to increase Ukraine's capacity to defend itself more effectively against Russo-Ukrainian War, Russian aggressi ...

(USAI). The Phoenix Ghost weapons were provided via a procurement, unlike the other weapons the US provided to Ukraine in the early months following the invasion. A U.S. aid package announced in November 2022 included more than 1,100 Phoenix Ghosts. At the height of deliveries, Aevex was shipping 230 loitering munitions to Ukraine each month. By December 2024, the company had delivered 5,000 drones to Ukraine.

Operators

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

(at least 120 systems delivered by early May 2022; with training also underway by May 2022). A further 1,100 were delivered as part of an aid package in early November.

References

External links

Photos of crashed Disruptor UAV - Telegram
Unmanned aerial vehicles of the United States Loitering munitions Weapons and ammunition introduced in 2022 {{UAV-stub