What is the 'Beaver'? Ukraine's Long

Ukraine may be using a new "kamikaze" unmanned vehicle to target Moscow, experts have suggested, as the war of drones in Ukraine is felt in the heart of the Russian capital.

Open-source intelligence accounts have suggested that Ukrainian "Beaver" drones could be behind recent attacks on Moscow, which the Kremlin has blamed on Kyiv.

Ukraine rarely accepts official responsibility for drone strikes on Russian territory, but Ukrainian officials will sometimes take to social media to reference them. In his nightly address on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky did not say Kyiv had orchestrated the latest attacks, but said that "gradually, the war is returning to the territory of Russia," and this was "an inevitable, natural and absolutely fair process."

Little is known about the Beaver but experts have taken what they can from footage appearing to show them targeting Moscow.

They are broadly similar to Iranian-made Shahed drones. Also known as Geran-2 one-way attack drones, these have frequently been used by Russia to target Ukraine, according to Justin Bronk, a senior research fellow with the London-based Royal United Services Institute think tank.

From available images and videos, the drones used against Moscow look comparable in weight and size to Shaheds, although their wingspan is slightly greater, he told Newsweek.

The Beaver looks to have a relatively small petrol engine, he added but is believed to have a range in excess of 1000 kilometers, or around 620 miles.

Experts describe the Beaver as a canard-type aircraft, with a small forewing forward of its main wing, which gives it a "very distinctive shape," according to U.K.-based drone expert, Steve Wright. It flies both very slowly and very steadily, with an apparent emphasis on range, he told Newsweek.

Similar drones, or at least the constituent parts of the Beaver design, have been around for years, although there is no indication that the Beaver in the form spotted over Moscow was used before the start of all-out war in Ukraine in February 2022, analysts say.

This particular type of unmanned aerial vehicle has also not been observed in other parts of the conflict, Akshara Parakala, lead aviation analyst at the Janes defense intelligence agency, told Newsweek.

From currently available footage, it looks to have an internal combustion engine, experts say. It is fitted with a propeller and an undercarriage, indicating it is launched into the air from the tarmac, according to Wright.

Drones similar to the "Beaver" typically operate at altitudes of around 18,000 feet, Parakala said, citing Janes's research.

What is less clear is just how well "Beaver" drones are able to cope with navigation jamming—something the Shahed is adept at. The Iranian-designed unmanned aerial vehicles use several types of navigation, Bronk said, rendering jamming or spoofing less effective.

It's hard to tell how well Beaver drones manage the extensive electronic warfare defenses set up in and around Moscow, Bronk said.

The Kremlin said early on Sunday that Moscow had been attacked by three Ukrainian drones. One was shot down by air defense systems in western Moscow, the ministry said, with two further unmanned aerial vehicles suppressed by means of electronic warfare.

These drones "lost control" and crashed into a non-residential building, the Russian government said. Two office buildings were "slightly damaged" in Sunday's attacks, Sergey Sobyanin, Moscow's mayor, said.

Hitting such buildings doesn't track with Ukrainian military doctrine, and suggests there was significant jamming working against the UAVs, Bronk said. But there will nonetheless be a "deliberate psychological effect" to bringing the war to the Russian capital and the Russian population, he said.

The Beaver could certainly be "vulnerable" to electronic warfare and jamming, Wright added, but it would be a "huge victory" for the operator if even one or two of the drones evade defenses.

In the future, as is the case for Shaheds, they are likely to be used in much larger swarms to overwhelm air defenses, Wright suggested.

Update 08/01/23, 7:15 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from Akshara Parakala.