Ukrainian drone makers are repurposing heavy bomber aircraft such as Perun’s “Max” and Skyfall’s “Vampire” for logistics missions as front-line movement becomes deadly for humans. Ukraine’s first deputy defense minister says logistics without robotic systems i
A heavy bomber drone takes off again—this time not to look down and drop explosives. On a training range in an undisclosed location in Ukraine, the propellers of the Perun drone known as “Max” whir up through dust and debris as it rises over empty ground.
The machine was built for a brutal purpose: hovering over Russian positions and dropping explosives. The “Max” can carry more than 90 pounds—enough, its designers say, to deliver a devastating blow.
But the job has been shifting. As artillery, vehicles, and supply routes are targeted from above, Ukrainian forces are increasingly using heavy drones for logistics—carrying supplies instead of bombs across a front where every movement can cost lives.
“Bombers are now being used more and more for logistics,” a Perun engineer, who requested to be identified as Petro for security reasons, told MISRYOUM Business News at the range in Ukraine last month.
On this battlefield, drones are always watching. Soldiers have described the front lines as a widening “kill zone” that stretches for miles on both sides. In that environment, moving—whether by foot or by vehicle—can trigger a fatal strike.
Ukrainian officials have responded with an unmistakable goal: replace soldiers wherever possible with drones and robotic systems for dangerous logistics missions. The plan is for machines to eventually handle 100% of front-line supply deliveries for Kyiv.
Logistics without robots has become “simply impossible,” Oleksiy Vyskub, Ukraine’s first deputy defense minister, told MISRYOUM Business News during a recent interview.
“There is a hell on the ground where everything is happening,” he said, adding that Ukraine must get as many people out of there as possible.
For drones like the “Max,” that shift is reflected in mission numbers. Petro said that roughly 70% of Perun’s drone missions are still bombing runs, but the logistics share is growing. For the “Max,” he said, 50% of its missions are now logistics.
“It’s very effective for that role,” Petro said.
He argued the drone’s advantages are practical, not theoretical. The “Max” is faster and harder to destroy than uncrewed ground vehicles (UGVs), which Ukrainian soldiers are also increasingly using for logistics missions.
But operators and manufacturers have said UGVs tend to have relatively short lifespans. Some can survive only a handful of missions, depending on where on the battlefield they are used.
A drone that can lift heavier cargo also changes what supply can look like. Petro said the “Max” has been increasingly used to deliver large payloads—ammunition and medicine—directly to troops.
It’s not an all-or-nothing transition. Some Ukrainian brigades still use the “Max” strictly as a bomber.
The drone can carry defective 155 mm shells—rounds that are unsafe to fire from artillery barrels. When dropped instead, they can still be especially destructive when aimed at Russian positions.
Even so, the direction is clear: heavy bombers such as the “Max” are gaining a new function because they can move important cargo in conditions where men and standard vehicles struggle to survive.
Ukraine is pursuing the same logic with other heavy bomber designs.
Skyfall’s “Vampire,” introduced in late 2022, started life as a heavy bomber drone. But it has also evolved into a multipurpose aircraft as Russian FPV drones increasingly threaten front-line supply routes.
“That’s where Vampire comes into play,” a Skyfall representative, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive developments, told MISRYOUM Business News. The representative said the drone is responsible for “a lot of logistics on the front lines.”
Soldiers and vehicles still play a role in these missions, the representative said. But when it’s possible, heavy bombers are being used to perform logistics.
Heavy bombers are not just part of battlefield tactics—they are a priority within Ukraine’s military procurement.
Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s defense minister, told reporters last month that deliveries of these aircraft, along with a wide range of other drones, have increased significantly.
“If we compare what we delivered during the first four months of 2026 to the entire previous year,” Fedorov said, “it is already a completely different scale.”
That surge matters because it comes as Russia continues to pressure supply lines through drone warfare.
Ukraine is trying to blunt those attacks in parallel. In some areas near the front lines, Kyiv has covered key roads with anti-drone netting. Even so, Russian forces have still found ways to break through and strike vehicles.
Taken together, the shift from bombing runs to logistics flights shows how quickly the front has forced change: when the routes become too lethal, the aircraft built to strike are being adapted to keep troops supplied—at the cost of far fewer human journeys through the “kill zone.”
Ukraine drones logistics Perun Max Skyfall Vampire anti-drone netting Oleksiy Vyskub Mykhailo Fedorov FPV drones UGVs defense ministry front-line supply