On Tuesday, July 28, 2026, a Ukrainian military blogger known as Polkovnik GSh published a photograph on Telegram showing a ground-based launcher for Russia’s lightweight S8000 Banderol cruise missile, which has been used in combat operations against Ukraine. Until now, the missile had only been launched from Orion combat unmanned aircraft and Mi-28MN attack helicopters (NATO reporting name: Havoc).
Photo: Telegram
The ground-launched variant will significantly expand the missile’s operational employment options, as it can be integrated with light vehicles such as pickup trucks.
The S8000 Banderol, then still unnamed, was publicly unveiled on April 26, 2025, during a visit by Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, to the Kapustin Yar missile test range. Subsequently, on May 12, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine (HUR), through its War & Sanctions information service, published technical details of the new weapon.
The system is manufactured and integrated by the St. Petersburg-based Kronstadt Group, which is involved in the design and production of large unmanned aircraft, including the aforementioned Orion, Inokhodets-RU (Sirius), Helios, and Altius-U. In addition, 25 Russian subcontractors participate in its production, while 21 dual-use components are sourced from abroad, including China, Japan, Australia, South Korea, the United States, and Switzerland.
The missile has a maximum speed of 620–650 km/h, a cruising speed of 520–560 km/h, and a range of up to 500 km. It is powered by a Chinese-made Swiwin SW800Pro-A95 turbojet engine weighing 8.5 kg and producing 0.8 kN of thrust. The missile carries a 114.3 kg OFBCh-150 high-explosive fragmentation warhead, including 49.5 kg of explosive composed of HMX with aluminum powder, with RDX used as a plasticizer. Guidance is provided by inertial navigation and the GLONASS satellite navigation system.