A Russian ballistic missile destroyed a drone factory in Kyiv that belonged to a US corporation registered in Delaware, the Guardian reported on July 30. It appears to be the first time Moscow has hit a US defence company in the war.
The owner is Terminal Autonomy, incorporated in Delaware in 2023, according to state records. A person familiar with the company told the Guardian it makes precision “deep-strike” drones with guidance that resists Russian jamming. The name refers to the last stage of a kamikaze drone’s attack, when AI takes over after the defenders jam radio or mobile signals. The company’s website says it deploys “AI-guided loitering munitions and precision munitions, which are already in active service against enemy assets on the frontline.”
Nobody was killed, a source familiar with the company said. Terminal Autonomy did not answer an emailed request for comment, and neither did Ukraine’s defence ministry.
What Moscow said
The Russian state news agency Tass first reported the strike, citing the Russian defence ministry. It did not say an American company owned the plant. It referred only to “specialists from a Ukrainian-American company” who had worked there. Tass did correctly name the drones the factory made, the AQ-400 Scythe and the AQ-100 Bayonet.
A target whoever owns it
Anthony Vinci, a former senior US intelligence officer, told the Guardian that ownership makes no difference to Russia. “The Russians don’t care who owns the manufacturing facility. It’s still a target,” he said. “They don’t care if it’s American or someone else’s.”
He linked that to a recent announcement. Early in July, Donald Trump, who had been lukewarm on arming Ukraine, said the US would license Ukraine to make Patriot anti-aircraft missiles. Vinci said that if Patriots or any other American system were built in Ukraine, he expected the Russians to go after that factory too.
