Ukraine’s MICH 2000 long-range attack drone was the weapon that destroyed a Russian Tupolev Tu-95MS strategic bomber at Engels-2 air base last month, according to Tom’s Hardware, citing a factory report from Ukrainian defense outlet Oboronka. Tom’s reports that the SBU said the strike tore off the bomber’s tail section, and that satellite imagery later confirmed the aircraft’s destruction. The reported origin story is unusually direct. Tom’s says the MICH 2000 is a reverse-engineered version of China’s ZTK-150, an aircraft Beijing refused to sell to Ukraine as manufacturing technology. After China restricted exports of civilian drones in summer 2023, a Ukrainian development team traveled to a Chinese factory later that year, found ZTK-150s in production and tried to buy the technology, according to the report. When the factory’s management blocked the sale, intermediaries offered pilot training instead, Tom’s reports. The Ukrainian team accepted, allegedly photographed the production line during the training period and returned home with eight drones. Tom’s attributes that account to an unnamed team member quoted in the Oboronka report, which it says was cleared in advance by the manufacturer and the SBU. The current MICH 2000 is described as a flying-wing drone built by an unnamed Ukrainian manufacturer exclusively for the SBU’s Alpha special operations center. Tom’s reports that it can carry up to a 60 kg warhead as far as 2,000 km and costs $48,000 in its base configuration, or $2,000 less than the Chinese ZTK-150 it was copied from. The early program had technical setbacks. Tom’s says the first Ukrainian-built prototype crashed 1 km into its first flight in summer 2024, and that Russian electronic warfare brought down the third test aircraft. In the drone’s first combat sortie that October, one of three aircraft was shot down and the other two reportedly landed roughly 10 meters short of their target. Alpha still ordered production. The manufacturer told Oboronka that little of the original ZTK-150 remains beyond the airframe outline, according to Tom’s. Over roughly two years, the program localized engines, warheads, fuselages and rocket boosters across dozens of Ukrainian suppliers, putting domestic content at 85% of the drone’s value. That figure falls to 55% when the aircraft uses a jam-resistant controlled reception pattern antenna, because Tom’s reports those components cost $20,000 to $25,000 and are made by only a small number of companies worldwide. Production is now described as industrial rather than experimental. Tom’s reports that the company builds about 6,000 drones per year across eight versions, with buyers able to select analog, digital or Starlink communications. The manufacturer is said to be reinvesting about $1 million per month in research and development while scaling toward 10,000 units annually. Tom’s also reports, citing the manufacturer, that Alpha has launched thousands of MICH 2000s at hundreds of targets. The targets named in the report include a Wildberries logistics hub in Ryazan oblast, an anti-Starlink electronic warfare system near Gelendzhik and the port of Ust-Luga, where one raid reportedly put more than 20 drones over the target. The comparison point in the report is Fire Point’s FP-1, which Tom’s says flew 2,500 km to hit Russia’s largest refinery and is tied to a 100,000-drone annual production target. Tom’s notes an important difference: the FP-1 serves many units, while the MICH 2000 has one customer, the SBU’s Alpha center. Who benefits: The drone is built exclusively for the SBU’s Alpha special operations center, according to the report. Dozens of Ukrainian component suppliers are also described as part of the localized production base behind the claimed 85% domestic-content figure for the base configuration. Who's exposed: The reported target list includes Russian strategic aviation, logistics sites, ports and electronic-warfare systems. Ukraine remains exposed to scarce jam-resistant navigation components, which Tom’s reports are expensive and supplied by only a handful of companies worldwide.