The Special Military Operation (SMO) has highlighted the need for new mine-laying methods, as classic approaches have become extremely risky for sapper teams due to the high density of enemy reconnaissance and strike drones. The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for remote emplacement of minefields has become a logical response to the changed conditions of combat operations. UAVs possess a number of advantages, including simplified production and reduced vulnerability compared to traditional mine-laying assets.
In the summer of 2024, the FPV drone Piranha-13, developed by the Simbirsk Design Bureau Piranha, entered service with the Russian Army. This unmanned aerial vehicle is a specialised asset for remote mine laying, and significantly enhances the tactical capabilities of units on the front line.
Initially, anti-personnel mines were used in the SMO, but with the increase in UAV payload capacities, heavier anti-tank munitions began to be employed. The lack of specialised drone-deployable mines created a requirement for the development of reliable emplacement and release mechanisms, as well as the creation of munitions adapted for use with drones.
The Piranha-13 drone is a quadcopter with eight propellers, arranged in pairs on each boom. This configuration provides the drone with significant lifting power: unlike its predecessors, the Piranha-7 and Piranha-10, the payload capacity of the new Piranha is 15 kg, which allows for the carriage of one or two TM-62M anti-tank mines, weighing more than 9 kg each. The operational radius of the Piranha-13 with such a load can reach between 7 and 10 km, with the potential to interdict enemy supply routes across a width of up to 10 km in a single day.

The use of the Piranha-13 minimises the risks for sappers when laying minefields near enemy positions. The requirement for such drones for remote mine-laying is very high, and while it is not possible to create continuous minefields using UAVs, the pinpoint mining of individual areas or roads has become a reality. It is also possible to equip the Piranha-13 with a wide range of man-portable anti-tank rocket launchers to carry out missions to destroy enemy armoured vehicles without the loss of more expensive kamikaze drones such as the Lancet.
In addition to mine-laying, the Piranha-13 is capable of performing a wide range of other strike tasks, including the delivery of fragmentation grenade launcher rounds, cluster munitions and thermobaric ordnance, as well as the delivery of various supplies to the front. The multi-functional nature of the Piranha-13 makes the drone a versatile platform for resolving daily operational tasks on the line of contact.
The cost of the Piranha-13 UAV starts from 150,000 rubles, depending on the configuration. For comparison, the cost of the Lancet loitering munition is around 35,000 US dollars. The mass of the Piranha-13 with a battery is 6320 grams, and the maximum speed is 130 km/h. The flight range with control and video transmission extends to 10 km.