Why is this Paper Drone so Feared by Russia? 

As an Australian I’m very proud of what we can do. Wait until they see our cardboard cruise missile.

The real value is beating your enemy economically. A $1000 paper drone taking out a $2m tank or APC is incredible value.

An operation using a large amount of these should be called paper-cut

As an American, I'm very glad my country has a very good relationship with Australia. They are an excellent ally, friend, and great place to vacation to.

“ The IKEA of nightmares “ There’s nothing funny regarding war, but that statement is hilarious!

F 35s? Nope. F 16s... Hmmmm. Maybe, probably. Paper Aeroplanes? We got you UKR. Thanks 'Straya.

Given how successful the British were during WW2 in implementing the use of non-strategic materials for aircraft, like the RAF's Mosquito, I'm honestly surprised this concept hasn't been done already for drones. Still, genius!

Well done you Aussies from Britain. You have a practical no nonsense common sense approach to everything you do and make something from very limited materials. It's amazing to think such simple and available materials have stealth like qualities and can inflict such ruthless damage damage and do tens of millions of pounds worth of damage from something as cheap as chips. It's almost in comparison to a single match costing nothing, but once lit can do a billion pounds worth of damage.

I have read about these drones in other Australian sources who put the payload at 2 machine gun magazines, so closer to 2 kilos than the 11 pounds claimed here. The reports also give the drone an expected life of 60 missions before fatigue, moisture, and rough landings destroy it. Still, the thing that does separate it from other cardboard drones is its software package which makes it possible to perform in the way shown in this video.

Developed by the Aussies to deliver a 6 pack of Fosters to the front line🎉

This is a reminder that the first effective airborne weapons-platform was made of silk and wicker.

On a completely unrelated note, 3 Claymore mines weigh 10.5 pounds.

The Russians can’t defeat an airforce of paper planes. Now that’s funny.

My nephews and I have been building these paper foam-core planes for years. There's a U.S. company that sells flat-pack kits precisely the way these are sourced. With a few hundred dollars worth of electronics we can program our planes to autonomously fly waypoints and land while providing telemetry and video down-link. Hobbyist have been doing a lower-tech version of this for years.

In WW II the de Havilland Mosquito was also very hard to detect on radar. The reason was because it was made of wood. I’m sure the same principles apply to this drone.

Reminds me of the rechargeable battery powered plastic and Styrofoam winged model plane I had in the early 70's called the "Superstar. It used plastic disks with patterns to control the flight coarse. They also made a car as well. After power ran out it would glide in to land.

Great stuff! Well done you Aussies, from "over the ditch" in NZ! This'd be great for delivering a much-deserved beer or two to the troops as well!

Flite Test has been making RC planes like this for years. These even look like they're made with the same foam board.

These things are in no way “low tech” just because they are made of a cheap simple material. The guidance software is clearly cutting edge and the idea itself is pure genius.

It's like the resupply in The Hunger Games, but for real. Carrying 11lbs for such a cheap and small thing is pretty cool. Could carry 2 anti-tank grenades and drop them different locations as well. That's thinking inside the box!

Dark's best line - The IKEA of Nightmares...

Go Aussie; well done from a New Zealander (Kiwi) .

Greetings from Melbourne, home of the paper drone! Victory to Ukraine.

The germans hated the the Mossie. It was entirely made out of wood. Didn’t show up on radar and was heavily armed

Damned clever. Leave it to an Australian to figure this one out. They're like the opposite of "Florida Man ", better attitude, better fishing, and most importantly, much better beer. Of course they're gonna help Ukraine, I'd like to see someone try to stop them. But that ain't gonna happen.

Now that's thinking outside the box!

I have to say when I saw our gov't was donating this cardboard drone I was unimpressed. I am glad to see it is proving useful and it is a good point that wing lift would give better operational time than copters could get. Plus good it can dead reckon it way to target.

Proud to be an Australian. Innovation is our forte.

Nice to see your report was ahead of the news. Ukraine supposedly used these to hit a Russian airbase, damaging or destroying multiple airplanes and a vehicles in the last day or two. The company said the drones are $3500 each (Aussie dollars?) but maybe costs were lowered in volume. They are built of poster board (hard foam with a paper coating) and the RC planes made from similar materials are resiliant, light, sturdy, and easy to modify. These have a crude body which greatly simplifies construction. It is cheap and easy to modify because it uses open source software, a laptop to program the flight path, and off the shelf components available to anyone. If you'd like a hobby version, there are some 5' wingspan kits (that are less crude looking) for $350, with the RC controller, or under $70 for just the body. They can continue to fly even after holes are shot thru the plane.

I like this idea. It's much more efficient and economical than so many. Our compliments to the "chef"!

I wonder how frequently drones are used for resupply instead of surveillance and attack? I love how they talk about is resupply function and they show troops unpacking a pallet while the drone has a payload of 11 lbs.😅

Kudos to Aussie ingenuity!

In the early 70's some members of the RC airplane club I belonged to were pitching ideas of using their hobby in the mlitary but they were generally ignored. Of course the electronics weren't nearly as sophisticated as they are now back then. An idea whose time wasn't quite right. Years later I worked with an engineer who was also expert at flying RC airplanes. He moved to Australia long ago - I wonder if he is involved with this company......

Great presentation! I heard they where sending these out some time ago so thanks for filling us in on what their actually doing👍

Excellent video! I had heard of this drone before and was watching for more information on it. Thank you very much!

As an Australian, I suggest stuffing it full of some of our combat spiders. Crash one of those in the middle of a military installation and suddenly no one's getting quality sleep for as long as they're stationed there. Not a war crime if no one's thought of it yet.

Make these highly visible to radar and Ukraine could exhaust Russia’s missile defence arsenal, then use Storm Shadow for the main event.

My favourite example of simplicity of design was an item sold by maplin electronics.... It was a rc pair of motors that ran 2 micropropellors which you clipped onto a paper airplane. It retailed for about £10-£20 so naturally it was always sold out.

THAT is just sooooo cool! Great video. Thanks mate. You're a legend.

Ingenious Australia!!!!!!!🐨🇺🇦

Australia takes Rock, Paper, Scissors to a whole new level. It turns out paper beats T-72.

Still a little expensive, but research always is. If these are made of plastic or cardboard, they have several unique advantages. 1) most countries have massive cardboard box manufacturing. In a war, it can be advantageous to utilize a resource that is not utilized another way. In War, some of the specialized box makers could easily make tons of these. They would not compete for other resources. In past wars, there were pushes to use other materials and save certain materials for the war industry. In both WW2 and Vietnam war, copper was in short supply. In World War 2 steel pennies were made. Cardboard is pretty plentiful because it grows from trees, so having a military supply that is likely to be easily supplied can be a good thing. In World War 2, liberty ships went with steam engines instead of diesel because supply of part for steam ships was easier to supply in mass. Steam engines were old technology that had ton of qualified people who could make components, where diesel, a much more precise and better engine, was saved for important purposes. It is good to field test your products, and an easy way to do this is to send it to Ukraine. Plus this technology is not something your enemy is really going to steal, or even if they do it is not like it is the latest thing. Western forces have a variety of other options for dealing with threats such as this. (Lasers, radars, missiles ect). Some point in the future I could see an automated folding machine, sitting on a semi truck, folding thousand of these and launching a fleet of cardboard drones. It would be like WW2 with thousand of planes in the sky, but all cheap drones.

This is absolutely brilliant! Well done Aussies!!!

Way to go AU, the best part is this drone is invisible on radar. For US viewers, a "Spanner" is a Wrench

Recent news on 08-27-2023, Ukraine might have used these drones to attack a Russian airbase and destroyed 5 fighter jets. If true, this is incredible.

Man…… I remember growing up as a kid buying RC model airplane kits for 50-200$ back in the early 2000s powered by a gas motor…. Some guys would even make high performance models from plastic poster boards or pink styrofoam insulation board….. with the tech we have these days…. Anybody can make a drone in their garage

I bet paper/cardboard is stealthy as hell. That's kinda brilliant.

For those unfamiliar, the name of this UAV means 'raven' in Latin. It makes me think of a Welsh poem titled "Y Gododdin." The exact date of the poem is debated, but it's believed to have been written between the seventh and eleventh centuries. Part of it can be rendered into English as: “.... He fed black ravens on the fortress rampart Though he was not Arthur [he was nevertheless] Among the mighty ones in battle ....” And in Luke 12:24 it says: "Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!"

Absolutely ingenious.

I really admire all those smart designers

🇦🇺 (1) Drinks us under the table. (2) Made Dennis a HISTORIC failure. (3) Builds Fast cars.. Thanks Bruce. (4) IS HELPING 🇺🇦 THANKS

Before watching: If it's paper, no radar return.

The cardboard should be replaced with a material called coroplast (corrugated plastic sheet), very similar to cardboard , making it in-previous to water😊

All this time I was thinking that someone somewhere would do a plastic drone...the approximate shape of this one, maybe bigger wings, but transparent plastic...it would be almost invisible during the day, and more weather resistant than cardboard even with wax protection

Just the thought of Russian aircrafts being taken down by cardboard drones while the Australian engineers behind them crack open a beer. Way too funny 🤣

And typically the price has been overstated. These drones cost less than a few hundred dollars. These drones have been supplied to Ukraine for over a year now.

This is so cool! 😮❤❤ God bless Australia! With love from the UK

BRILLIANT --A Radio Controlled Model Airplane - One of those - Why Did We Not Think Of These Earlier

I remember talking about these and other drones at defense dept conferences.

I know you've all heard about world war 3, but has any of you heard of rock, paper scissors 🤨🤨🤨🤨

It even seems to mimic feathered birds as it flies. And for that matter, I wonder if drones could be made that clone the appearance of birds native to a combat zone? Interesting.

That’s amazing! Coupla grand versus tens of millions? Every military outfit should be utilizing this technology!!!

Paper/cardboard is quite strong when used correctly. For instance during the WW2 instead of using valuable aluminium, the P51D’s drop tanks were made out of pretty much fuel resistant coated papier-mâché made in England at the time. So high cost doesn’t always translate into better.

I have always loved paper airplanes.

Love it: paper angel worth more than its weight in gold. Well done 👏 🇦🇺❤ Slava 🇺🇦 7:19

Wait until IKEA gets involved, there will always be an extra piece in the end. You then realize the piece was the timer, BOOM.

Who knew the nerdy hobby of home built remote control airplanes could develop into a weapons industry

This is an amazing concept, well done to the Australians for such an innovative design. 😊 Glory to Ukrane.

Makes me proud 😊

Loved this vid ty!

Proud Aussie. Slava Ukraini 💙💛💙💪

I hope they have 1000's of these

WOW!!! On Time and Under Budget!!! Not to mention effective!!! What a concept. Excellent reporting and to those smart “honey badgers”!!! Always bring a “smart knife to a gun fight” Thank you!!’

Thank you😊🤝 for providing this amazing info👏about the design, use & versatility of the cardboard drones..It is just extraordinary 👍what functions they're able to achieve built w'out any metal/solid materials? Thanks Stephen D CapeTown,SA🇿🇦

I love the ingenuity of the Aussies! Who would have thought you could make deadly, untraceable drones out of cardboard? The only thing I don't understand is where will it carry all the supplies described in the video? I wonder where all this aerodynamic lift will come from? I can see maybe 5 pound HEAT shaped charge, but I can't imagine the cardboard plane in the video carry a 20-pound pkg of supplies to a forward operating base w/ a parachute drop. What am I missing?

G'day Dark, Well, you know our national secret, when you can't afford high-tech tech, you make your own from 'beer cartons' 😉 Seriously, the RAAF has had US Reapers on our inventory for some time, however, you don't want costly weapons platforms to be downed, captured and possibly used against you. This commercial partnership with the ADF is a brilliant solution for Ukraine and is, of course, ideal for use in our thousands of square kilometres of 'empty' land in the 'outback'. As we often say down this way, "Job's done!" Cheers, Dark and all the best. Bill H.

Hope Aussieland has continuos supply of this grouse drone for courageous Ukrainians

Thanks for the great videos you create

Slick. Makes sense about the wax coating. I wonder if they might be used as spotters for artillery??

75 MILES range!!!!

Do you suppose that Banggood will soon be selling a RC version for the armature hobbyist?

Great video thanks 😊

Cheap (in Military terms), simple to make in numbers, and expendable. Looks good to me. If it was me making them, I'd not only send them to Ukraine, but explore selling a few shiploads to a customer just a little North of me. I'm sure Taiwan wouldn't mind having some on hand.

It could carry up to an 81 mm mortar round, or better still, 5 kilos of high explosive, gift wrapped for Ivan. The 81 mm mortar round only carries 700 grams of TNT. Numbers of these drones could be very effective against ground troops and equipment.

I can't imagine the dread of a modern war zone. How do you defend yourself from the little quad drones or these ones. It doesn't matter what side your on, you can't really be trained to defend yourself from low budget, common tech drones.

The way this conflict has changed the way wars are fought with drone tech is astounding.

Congrats to my Aussie cousins from the US! You guys are awesome! For this price, Ukraine can afford armies of drones!

Love the origami comment. Each war has low tech innovation, this one has so many come out on the public channels that's it is even harder to predict next year's adversaries.

I gotta say... When I was playing COD Advanced Warfare, I wasn't expecting paper airplanes...

"Ikea of Nightmares"

Interesting design with the short fuselage, oversized tail and no dihedral in the wings.

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie. Slava Ukraini 🇺🇦💪🏻🇦🇺

1 Russian jet costs an avg $50m. Imgainge 50,000 of these drones flying at you instead for the same price.

I gotta get me some of that military grade cardboard!!!

Drone Submarine made of cardboard would be next i hope. Undetectable.

Cartels will be putting this to work in a year.

Ive home built rc aircraft like this with Coroplast...old political yard signs. They're dead on when they say the electronics is the important part, and even simple inertial is avaliable on hobby sites. Engine, electronics & all can be had for

During WWII Japanese airplanes were made using Kashi tree wood. This is a kind of evergreen white oak. Because of its high hardness, there is very little wear on the sole of plane. Kashi wood is very strong and resists splitting, and so there are seldom problems with cracks or splinters in the body.

"The IKEA of nightmares!" LOL

Australian soldiers all know about the periscope rifle developed in the trenches of Gallipoli by LCpl Beech and are regularly encouraged to innovate. This is a perfect ancestor to that rifle👍👍