Direct proof of use
Queen Hornets are documented in Ukrainian service during the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War through battlefield reporting, unit-linked footage, and later Ukrainian defense-industrial reporting. Censor.NET reported in July 2026 that Ukraine's Ministry of Defense had codified the 17-inch Queen Hornet multipurpose FPV drone, that combat units had received about 10,000 examples, and that Queen Hornets had been used during the Kursk operation, in Sumy-region mine-laying against a Russian offensive, and against Russian assaults on the Pokrovsk direction.
Separate frontline reporting gives more specific use cases. Mezha reported a May 2025 combat strike by Bulava unit pilots using a Queen Hornet fitted with a grenade launcher against Russian infantry. Suspilne Donbas reported that FPV crews of Ukraine's 117th Separate Heavy Mechanized Brigade used Queen Hornets on the Pokrovsk direction as heavy bomber/dropper drones against Russian infantry assaults, and one pilot described a January tank strike. United24 Media reported KHORT Battalion combat trials under Operational Command North with a Queen Hornet carrying an RPG-75 launcher and apparent fiber-optic control.
Sources: Censor.NET Queen Hornet codification report, Mezha Queen Hornet grenade-launcher combat report, Suspilne Queen Hornet Pokrovsk report, United24 Queen Hornet RPG-75 report
Timeline
Public reporting first placed the Hornet Queen on the front line in July 2024, when Defense Express described Wild Hornets' heavy FPV drone as already being used on Ukrainian battlefields after development at the request of a Ukrainian unit. By November 2024, according to Mezha's later summary of Wild Hornets statements, almost 1,000 Queen Hornets had been sent to the front.
The record of documented combat use widened in 2025. Mezha reported the first Armed Forces of Ukraine combat use of a Queen Hornet with a grenade launcher on May 13, 2025. United24 reported KHORT Battalion RPG-75 combat trials on June 21, 2025. Suspilne published its Pokrovsk direction report on June 28, 2025, showing the drone in Donetsk Oblast footage dated June 17 and describing its use against Russian assaults. Censor.NET's July 3, 2026 codification report then summarized the platform as combat-tested across multiple Ukrainian operational contexts.
Sources: Defense Express Hornet Queen report, Mezha Queen Hornet grenade-launcher combat report, United24 Queen Hornet RPG-75 report, Suspilne Queen Hornet Pokrovsk report, Censor.NET Queen Hornet codification report
Battlefield roles
The Queen Hornet appeared as a reusable heavy FPV platform rather than as a single-purpose munition. Defense Express described the original requirement as an affordable FPV bomber, while Censor.NET and later battlefield reporting described bomber, kamikaze, transport, drone-carrier, relay, remote mine-laying, and field-adapted weapons-carrier roles.
On the Pokrovsk direction, Suspilne's report centered on a Ukrainian drone crew using the Queen Hornet most effectively as a dropper or bomber against infantry assaults, while also noting kamikaze use. In the grenade-launcher cases, the drone acted as an airborne firing platform: Mezha reported a Bulava unit combat strike with a grenade launcher, and United24 reported a KHORT Battalion RPG-75 trial in which the launch succeeded but the warhead did not detonate on impact.
Sources: Defense Express Hornet Queen report, Censor.NET Queen Hornet codification report, Suspilne Queen Hornet Pokrovsk report, Mezha Queen Hornet grenade-launcher combat report, United24 Queen Hornet RPG-75 report
