Osa

Osa is a Ukrainian strike quadcopter built by First Contact, a Kyiv-based unmanned-systems firm that has been working on drones since 2014. Introduced in 2022 and assigned NATO NCAGE code A3Q1J the following year, the system falls under STANAG 4670’s “Class 1 mini” category: a short-endurance, high-speed, highly manoeuvrable multirotor designed for vertical take-off and landing from unprepared ground. The manufacturer markets it as a dual-use airframe for reconnaissance, target identification and single-use kamikaze strikes against stationary command posts, fortifications, air defence, electronic warfare complexes, armour and ammunition depots.

The maker lists a maximum combat radius of 25 km, a flight time of 15 minutes, a top speed of around 42 m/s (150 km/h) and a payload capacity of 3.3 kg on a sub-5 kg airframe. First Contact says Osa is engineered almost entirely in Ukraine: a bespoke sealed frame described as matching carbon in weight and stiffness, four lifting electric motors, and an in-house flight processor, navigation module, communications stack, motor controller and integration board. The company says more than twenty other Ukrainian producers now use individual Osa components in their own aircraft. A ground control station, FPV goggles of the SKYZONE type, a TX16S-class controller, a signal repeater and a 4-metre antenna tracker ship as part of the standard 50-unit complex. Payload options named by the manufacturer include shaped-charge, high-explosive, fragmentation and thermobaric warheads for both kamikaze delivery and drop, plus a sequential-release carrier for up to twelve VOG grenades.

The declared operator is Ukraine, with partnerships listed across the Armed Forces, the National Guard, the Security Service of Ukraine, the Ministry of Defence and the Army of Drones programme, alongside Western suppliers including Diehl Defence, Rohde & Schwarz and Narda Safety Test Solutions. Osa drew international attention after reporting attributed it to the June 2025 “Spiderweb” raids, in which quadcopters smuggled inside Russia in truck-mounted containers struck long-range aviation bases including Olenya and Belaya; First Contact’s own site refers obliquely to a “crucial role in several landmark special operations” without naming them. Founder Valerii Borovyk, a combat veteran who commanded a strike-drone unit in 2022–2024, was named to TIME’s 2026 AI100 list on the back of that work.

Osa sits in Ukraine’s dense FPV market alongside systems such as the longer-range Vidsich from the same maker, differentiating itself through its sealed frame, higher cruise speed and modular munition carriage rather than through raw endurance.