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Communications · Mesh modem

Xingkai XK-F358 mesh radio

Also recorded as XK-F358, XK-F359 and Modem Mesh Network XK-F358

A Chinese two-channel 10-watt mesh radio from Shenzhen Xingkai Technology. Every unit can relay data and video for the next, so drones carrying it extend each other's control link.

Maker
Shenzhen Xingkai Technology Co., Ltd. (Xingkay Tech)[1]
Country
China
Found in
2 weapons, 3 recovered units on record
Photos
6

Photos

1 / 6

Photos: HUR War & Sanctions · HUR via Militarnyi

The XK-F358 is a two-channel, 10-watt mesh radio sold by Shenzhen Xingkai Technology (深圳市兴恺科技有限公司), which HUR War & Sanctions spells “Xingkay Tech”. In a mesh network every radio can relay for the next, so drones carrying one extend each other’s link to the operator. The maker’s English page claims 100–300 km per hop in line of sight; its Chinese page gives 1,300–1,500 MHz as the working band and up to 256 nodes. It is listed on Made-in-China at US$8,100–9,000.

HUR has recorded it in Geran-2 and Geran-5 drones. The Insider reported in October 2026 that the modem in a modernised Gerbera was the XK-F359, a name the maker used for a 2×10 W model until March 2026, and published an invoice for 500 modems for a factory in the Alabuga zone. Where the mesh relay fits in strike guidance: how a mesh relay is claimed to steer it.

What it runs is the maker’s own firmware. Its Chinese page describes an Analog Devices AD936x transceiver with an FPGA, a MANET mesh of up to 256 nodes and 63 hops at no more than 7 ms a hop, set-up through a web interface, DES, AES-128/256 or SM4 encryption, spectrum scanning with adaptive frequency hopping and an optional remote silence and wake-up. The company’s director told The Insider that the FPGA is an AMD Zynq part; AMD said it had never sold to the firm. These are the maker’s claims; no recovered unit’s firmware has been published.

Specifications

Each figure names its source. A maker's figure is the maker's claim; nothing here was measured by us.

Output power2 × 10 W Official claim[2]
Working band (as sold)1,300–1,500 (70 MHz–6 GHz to order) MHz Official claim[3]
Single-hop range (maker's figure)100–300 line of sight; 1–30 urban km Official claim[2]
Link rate70 Mbit/s Official claim[3]
Network sizeup to 256 nodes Official claim[3]
Relay hopsup to 63 Official claim[3]
Delay per hop≤ 7 ms Official claim[3]
EncryptionDES, AES-128/256 (SNOW3G/ZUC optional) Official claim[2]
Size and mass12.7 × 11.0 × 3.3 cm, 635 g Official claim[2]
Supply voltage18–36 V DC Official claim[2]
Listed priceUS$8,100–9,000 Official claim[4]

What it costs

Prices published for the Xingkai XK-F358 mesh radio, each in roubles, at the market rate and as the relative cost for Russia, with its source.

Documented Xk-F358 COFDM 20W MANET MIMO mesh radio, maker's Made-in-China storefront (MOQ 2) · Marketplace listing, Shenzhen Xingkai Technology Co., Ltd (maker), 2026

Roubles
₽630,000
Dollars, market rate
$8,100
Dollars, imported: market price applies
$8,100

Stated as US$8,100: Pricing US$8,100.00 2 Pieces(MOQ)

Made-in-China.com, Shenzhen Xingkai Technology Co., Ltd storefront ↗

Documented Xk-F358 2*10W COFDM MIMO mesh radio for long-range drones, maker's storefront (MOQ 2) · Marketplace listing, Shenzhen Xingkai Technology Co., Ltd (maker), 2026

Roubles
₽630,000–710,000
Dollars, market rate
$8,100–9,000
Dollars, imported: market price applies
$8,100–9,000

Stated as US$8,100–9,000: Xk-F358 2*10W Cofdm MIMO Mesh Radio Mesh Network Fhss Hopping Frequency Manet Network Mesh System for Long Range Drone US$8,100.00-9,000.00 2 Pieces (MOQ)

Made-in-China.com, Shenzhen Xingkai Technology Co., Ltd storefront ↗

Documented Xk-F359 2*20W IP mesh radio, maker's storefront (MOQ 2) — the model The Insider says is the one actually found in Gerans · Marketplace listing, Shenzhen Xingkai Technology Co., Ltd (maker), 2026

Roubles
₽770,000
Dollars, market rate
$9,800
Dollars, imported: market price applies
$9,800

Stated as US$9,800: Xk-F359 2*20W Data Link Fhss Hopping IP Mesh Radio Video Transmitter and Receiver with AES256 Encryption for Drone Tactical Equipment Mesh Communication System US$9,800.00 2 Pieces (MOQ)

The XK-F359 is the model The Insider says is actually fitted to the Gerans; HUR's database records an XK-F358.

Made-in-China.com, Shenzhen Xingkai Technology Co., Ltd storefront ↗

Documented invoice for 500 XK F-359 mesh modems, for delivery to Alabuga (about $2.87 million, i.e. about ¥39,000 / $5,740 each) · Invoice or document, Jiang Qin ("Jack Jiang"), director and owner of Xingkai Technology, invoicing undercover reporters, 2026

Roubles
₽450,000
Dollars, market rate
$5,700
Dollars, imported: market price applies
$5,700

Stated as CN¥19.5 million for 500 units: The Insider and Nordsint then ordered 500 modems for delivery to Alabuga, home to a factory that produces most of Russia's long-range drones. Jiang responded with an invoice for 19.5 million yuan

An invoice sent to reporters posing as a buyer for Alabuga; whether any modems were shipped is not known. The Insider identifies the model as the XK-F359.

The Insider (with Nordsint) ↗

How the prices are worked out

Each figure is first given as its source states it. A price in dollars, yuan or euros is converted into roubles at the average market exchange rate of its year (for 2026: Bank of Russia official rate, average Jan–Sep 2026). The dollar price at the market rate is those roubles converted back, which is what the item costs someone paying in dollars.

The third price is the relative cost for Russia. Prices inside Russia are far lower than the exchange rate suggests: in 2025 a dollar fetched 83.7 roubles on the market, but 29.6 roubles bought in Russia what a dollar bought in the United States, according to the World Bank's purchasing-power-parity factor. Russian price levels were therefore about 35% of American ones, and the third price is the market-rate price scaled down by that share. It is a comparison, not money paid: it shows how much smaller the burden is when the work is paid at Russian prices, which is why a rouble budget goes about 2.8 times further than its dollar value suggests.

The factor measures prices across the whole economy, not the price of weapons. It fits Russian wages and locally made parts best. Imported parts, such as Chinese engines and radios, are paid for in hard currency, so for them the market price is the real cost and their third price equals it. A figure for a whole weapon mixes both, so its relative cost understates the imported share.

Economists who compare defence budgets make the same point. Michael Kofman and Richard Connolly put Russia's effective military spending at $150–180 billion a year at purchasing-power parity, against the roughly $60 billion a year a market-rate conversion suggests. War on the Rocks, 2019 ↗

Peter Robertson of the University of Western Australia built a price index for military spending itself and found Russia's real budget to be more than three times its market-rate value. University of Western Australia, 2021 ↗

Prices are not adjusted for inflation: each is converted at the rates of its own year, which is shown with it. Sources for the rates: World Bank, official exchange rate (LCU per US$, period average), World Bank, PPP conversion factor, GDP (LCU per international $), Bank of Russia, official exchange rates.

How it is marked

Used in

Geran family

Sources

  1. HUR War & Sanctions war-sanctions.gur.gov.ua/en/components/6870
  2. Xingkai Technology xingkaitech.com/cofdm-wireless-transmission/mimo-mesh-xk-f358/
  3. Xingkai Technology xingkaitech.cn/productInfo-165-173.html
  4. Made-in-China listing xingkaitech.en.made-in-china.com/product/opMriHUAaNct/China-Xk-F358-2-10W-Cofdm- …
  5. Kyiv Post kyivpost.com/post/59924
  6. HUR War & Sanctions war-sanctions.gur.gov.ua/en/page-geran-5

Last checked 2026-10-19.

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