First precedent of strike on a US contractor
The British publication The Guardian reported that during a Russian air attack on Kyiv, the production facility of the American company Terminal Autonomy was destroyed. According to a source close to the company, a ballistic missile strike hit the facility on the night of July 24. This event marked the first recorded instance where Moscow launched a direct strike on a defense facility belonging to a private US contractor operating on Ukrainian territory.
Incident details and facility status
Terminal Autonomy was registered in the state of Delaware in 2023. According to information obtained by journalists, the factory in Kyiv was completely destroyed as a result of the missile impact. Despite extensive damage to the infrastructure, no casualties among the personnel were recorded. Representatives of the company and the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine did not provide comments on this request.
Production capacity and product specifics
The destroyed facility was engaged in the production of high-precision long-range unmanned aerial vehicles. Specifically, the factory produced loitering munitions equipped with artificial intelligence systems capable of functioning under conditions of active electronic warfare. Among the products manufactured at the site are the AQ-400 Scythe and AQ-100 Bayonet strike models, as well as the RQ-100 Scout reconnaissance drones.
Official position of the Russian Ministry of Defense
The Russian military department confirmed the strike on the facility in Kyiv. In a briefing published by the Russian Ministry of Defense on the night of July 26, it was reported that a drone assembly and storage site in the southwest of the capital was hit. According to the department, the facility, with the involvement of specialists from a Ukrainian-American company, produced up to one thousand UAVs of various types monthly. The report also mentioned a strike on the 'Smart Intelligent System' enterprise, which was engaged in producing drone components.
