Molniya-2

Molniya-2 is a Russian loitering munition with an estimated unit cost of approximately USD 300, representing the low-cost attritable tier of Russia's drone arsenal. At this price, Molniya-2 can be deployed in saturation swarms that overwhelm point-defence systems whose interceptors cost orders of magnitude more, creating a cost-exchange dynamic that has become one of the defining economic pressures of the Ukraine war.

At USD 300 per unit, even a 50% attrition rate on launch is economically sustainable for the attacker while imposing disproportionate costs on the defender. Counter-UAS systems designed around USD 50,000-plus interceptors face an acute cost asymmetry against platforms in this price tier. Molniya-2 sits alongside the better-known Shahed family in Russia's layered strike strategy, but at a cost point designed specifically to exhaust short-range interceptor stocks.