Ukraine’s RAM-2X Loitering Munition is Giving Russian Armor Nightmares
Ukraine’s latest addition to its expanding drone arsenal, the RAM-2X, might just be one of the most terrifying entries yet.
The battlefield is evolving. Fast. And Ukraine’s latest addition to its expanding drone arsenal, the RAM-2X, might just be one of the most terrifying entries yet.
Why? Because it’s not just another loitering munition. It’s a purpose-built killer with a warhead designed to turn Russian vehicles and troops into shredded aluminum. With its recon partner, the Shark UAV, this combo is rewriting the rules of tactical drone warfare in Ukraine.
The Kill Mechanism: Ukrainian-Made, Purpose-Built, Brutal
Let’s start with what matters most: the warhead.
The RAM-2X carries an explosively formed penetrator (EFP), a nasty piece of warhead engineering that, unlike your typical shaped charge, doesn’t produce a molten jet. Instead, it forms a solid metal slug upon detonation and hurls it at Mach 15 toward its victim. It’s essentially a flying sniper round with the punch of an anti-tank mine.
Photos of a downed RAM-2X in occupied Donetsk revealed internal markings: “ЗК 2,7 УЯ” deciphered as a “controlled charge” (ЗК), with a 2.7-kilogram EFP payload. For context, that’s enough to punch through most Russian armor, demolish entrenched positions, or vaporize a squad of infantry behind cover.
Cope cages, screens, slat armor, even reactive armor plates? Useless.
And here’s the kicker: that warhead wasn’t imported. It was made in Ukraine. This means Kyiv is now mass-producing domestically engineered precision EFPs for loitering drones.
This represents a weapons development milestone and has big logistics implications.
Visually, the RAM-2X doesn’t scream menace. It’s a fixed-wing, X-configured loitering munition, likely with a top speed around 160 km/h and a range pushing 120 kilometers. It’s not built to race an F-16.
It’s built to cruise. To stalk. To wait.
That X-wing profile isn’t just aesthetic (May the Force be with you). The aerodynamic layout improves maneuverability at lower speeds, letting it hang over a target area longer without the noisy, erratic movement of rotary-wing drones. That makes it ideal for ambushes. It’s slow, yes. But it's sneaky, precise, and surgical in its strike.
The most revealing part? Russian troops didn’t just detonate the downed drone and call it a day. They brought in a bomb disposal robot equipped with an X-ray scanner to inspect the internals. That kind of forensic recovery is rare and tells us something critical: this drone’s tech, and its warhead, rattled them.
The Killer Duo: RAM-2X and Shark UAV in Tandem
What makes the RAM-2X truly disruptive isn't just the warhead or flight profile; it’s the teamwork. In an age of layered EW, radar denial, and contested bandwidth, the pairing of the RAM-2X with the Shark UAV is less a happy coincidence and more a strategic evolution.
Ukraine didn’t just build a loitering munition; they built a system, and that system is designed to work in tandem from target detection to terminal kill.
At the core of this relationship is what drone tacticians refer to as persistent overwatch. The Shark UAV, produced by Ukrspecsystems, can loiter above a target area for extended durations, upwards of 2 to 4 hours depending on configuration.
Unlike the kamikaze RAM-2X, which must eventually strike or land, the Shark provides eyes-on-station to monitor target patterns, troop movement, and EW interference. It’s a hunter that doesn’t bite until it calls in the one that does.
But here’s where it gets tactically clever: the Shark acts as a forward node in a battlefield mesh network. While traditional drone teams suffer from line-of-sight limitations, especially when targeting behind hills, city blocks, or hardened terrain, the Shark extends the strike package’s radio horizon.
If the RAM-2X’s operator is bunkered dozens of kilometers away, the Shark can serve as the forward antenna, relaying guidance, confirming telemetry, and mitigating the signal degradation caused by Russian jamming towers or portable EW kits.
This isn't theoretical. It's exactly how Israel has integrated Elbit’s Hermes drones into their loitering munitions ecosystem.
Ukraine, however, is doing it faster, cheaper, and arguably with more flexibility. Unlike larger Western ISR drones that require airfields or complex GCS infrastructure, the Shark can be launched from a field, operated from a van, and recovered by parachute—if it survives.
Additionally, the Shark’s high-resolution optical package allows it to do more than identify targets. It can record strikes, measure damage in real time, and feed battlefield analytics into Ukraine’s rapidly evolving digital targeting architecture.
This matters because in the world of drone warfare, data is ammunition. Confirmed kills inform future strikes. Strike failures highlight needed refinements. The RAM-2X doesn’t just destroy; it teaches.
There’s also a psychological edge. Russian forces, already on the defensive in drone-heavy zones like Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia, are now facing not just a drone but a two-part system.
They may spoof the RAM-2X’s guidance signal- but that doesn’t prevent the Shark from re-designating a new target or logging GPS coordinates for another wave. It’s not a one-and-done threat. It’s a networked kill web.
In short, RAM-2X and Shark together represent the shift from individual munitions to collaborative kill-chains. Ukraine is not only decentralizing its drone warfare; it's modularizing it. Want to operate in low-EW zones? RAM-2X goes solo. Facing GPS jamming or target-rich environments? Plug in the Shark, create a mesh, and strike with redundancy.
The Russians are playing whack-a-mole. Ukraine is playing distributed chess.
And that’s why they work together so well. The RAM-2X is the spear. The Shark is the eye, the brain, and sometimes the comms relay. It’s a lethal duo designed not just to punch through armor but to break through the very systems meant to stop them.
Production Under the Radar: The Quiet Ramp-Up
Here’s a subtle detail with big implications: The warhead found in the crashed RAM-2X was dated January 2024. But the drone wasn’t shown to the public until nearly a year later. That suggests one of two things: either Ukraine is stockpiling these EFP warheads for multiple drone platforms, or—more likely—the RAM-2X has been in stealth production and possibly battlefield testing long before its official unveiling.
This is classic Ukrainian “MacGyver” doctrine at work. Prototype in the shadows. Field-test in real combat. Refine with each version. Then scale.
And if this drone is already flying combat missions deep in contested zones like Donetsk, that ramp-up is well underway. The leaked photos might not have been Kyiv’s choice, but they’re confirmation: Ukraine’s drone-industrial complex isn’t just surviving; it’s evolving.
Most loitering munitions rely on HE-frag warheads, devastating against infantry, soft-skinned vehicles, and exposed artillery crews. But when you add an EFP to the mix, you move into the realm of bunker busting, vehicle penetration, and hardened target elimination.
In practical terms? That means a RAM-2X can now destroy command posts, armored logistics vehicles, and even mobile air defenses. It's no longer just harassing Russian troops. It's eliminating high-value battlefield assets that are expensive to replace and logistically cumbersome to defend.
In essence, Russia’s armored backbone, already stretched thin, now has to look skyward for a silent, drifting threat that could strike without warning, at standoff range, and bypass traditional defenses.
The RAM-2X is a symbol of how Ukraine’s defense sector has matured under fire. From battlefield improvisation in 2022 to domestic EFP warhead production in 2025, it’s been a steep learning curve. But Kyiv’s proving it can iterate faster than its adversaries can adapt.
This drone, paired with Shark, signals a new era of precision loitering munitions: affordable, scalable, and tailored for the attritional grind of modern war. As drone warfare becomes less about flashy one-offs and more about battlefield economics, the RAM-2X is Ukraine’s answer: lethal, local, and made for the long haul.
And if the Russians are x-raying crashed drones instead of blowing them up? That’s all the confirmation we need—this system scares them.
And it should.
That’s it for today, friends. Subscribing is the best way to support independent journalism.
And as always, Glory to Ukraine, glory to the heroes. Crimea is Ukraine.
Слава Україні!
Ukrainian arms innovation is astounding! Slava Ukraine!
You can't have read any of it or you'd be aware that Russia didn't invade with enough manpower for the objective you assert 🤷♂️ There's your argument. Read your book again and have a child explain it to you.