A typical FPV weighs up to one kilogram, has four small engines, a battery, a frame and a camera connected wirelessly to goggles worn by a pilot operating it remotely. It can carry up to 2.5 kilograms of explosives and strike a target at a speed of up to 150 kilometers per hour, explains Pavlo Tsybenko, acting director of the Dronarium military academy outside Kyiv.
So that’s up to 3.5kg.
The FPV is more-maneuverable, cheaper, and faster than the PPDS.
The FPV drones take off from improvised platforms several kilometres from the front line. Depending on their size, battery and payload, range varies from 5 km to 20 km or more.
That’d be a substantial range increase.
I don’t know what risks might be associated with having a non-one-use drone, though. Like, if you want to use the “carrier” drone multiple times, it might be possible for a reconnaissance drone to follow it back, wait for someone to retrieve the thing, and then drop artillery on the spot or something.
Could also just expend the fixed-wing drone as a single-use weapon, though then it increases the cost of the drone by a factor of several times.