Overview
- Japan’s defense minister said the Maritime Self-Defense Force is already flying AirKamuy 150 cardboard drones as aerial targets after a meeting with the startup.
- The fixed-wing drone is built from coated corrugated cardboard and costs about $2,000 to $3,000 per unit, far below typical military models.
- AirKamuy lists an electric motor with about 80 minutes of flight time, roughly 50 miles of range, a payload near three pounds, and a top speed around 74 mph.
- The kits ship flat, assemble by hand in five to ten minutes, and about 500 fit in a standard shipping container, which lets forces stock and deploy them quickly.
- Engineers pitch swarm, decoy, reconnaissance, electronic warfare, or one-way strike roles, though the design is unproven in combat and its electric range limits reach, and reporting notes the cardboard body may be harder to track by radar under some conditions seen in recent drone-heavy conflicts.