Shark-M System Equipped with Simulator for Drone Pilots

The Ukrainian Shark-M UAV now includes a simulator for drone operators.

Andriy Rymaruk, Deputy Director of Ukrspecsystems, shared this news in an interview with Militarnyi.

The reconnaissance UAV was presented at the Defense Tech Era 2025 forum, held to mark the second anniversary of Ukraine’s Brave1 defense tech cluster.

The Shark-M drone can perform reconnaissance and function as a relay for other UAVs. It operates both day and night.

The current record flight route stands at 658 kilometers over 6.5 hours.

“The most valuable feature of this system, in my opinion, is the simulator,” Rymaruk told Militarnyi. “When the weather doesn’t allow flying, the crew can still train, repeat missions, and maintain operational readiness. It reinforces muscle memory — what buttons to press, which actions to take in the software to complete a mission.”

Crews can swap the drone’s daytime camera with a thermal imager in the field if needed.

The company is also working on further upgrades for military users. One upcoming improvement is a dual-sensor module that combines a day camera and a thermal imager.

“This will be especially relevant during the autumn and spring months, when daylight is limited and missions often return in darkness,” Rymaruk noted.

He added that Shark-M operators remain “100% safe, as the system allows them to stay deep in their own rear while flying missions into enemy territory.”

The basic system includes four drones — two for daytime operations and two for night missions. Configurations can be customized based on user requirements.

Shark-M features a ground communication system that is 4.5 times more powerful than its predecessor, the Shark-D, and more than twice as powerful on board, enabling extended-range reconnaissance.

Shark-M

The Shark-M was officially introduced in January 2025, featuring several upgrades for improved battlefield performance.

Its flight range was extended to 420 km, and maximum flight time increased to seven hours, thanks to new batteries with 170% more capacity.

Upgrades to the radio modem and antenna systems have more than doubled the communication range, now reaching up to 180 km.