The tank-busting munitions that they typically use are conventional RPG warheads, as seen in the video I've linked. They work great provided that they hit a weakly armored spot, and they're even cheaper than the drone itself.

And no, you don't need Internet connectivity for those things. You need to be within radio range, but this can still mean 1-2 km away easily even on stock equipment, and more with better antennae etc.

Conventional RPG warheads still cost money, a lot of money if you want them to reliably explode.

Javelin has a warhead capacity of 9Kg, for the same bang so to speak ( armor penetration) you would need drones that can hoist 9Kg, those don't retail at anywhere near $1,000.

That doesn't mean that cheap drones are not effective means of weapons delivery, they are as this war is showing. They are akin to side arms, when penetration is not a factor they are useful, but they are hardly a replacement for heavy guided munitions like Javelin.

Man Pads are by no means perfect, the current gen is 30 years old, they could be made much smarter and lot cheaper than $250,000, however just $1000 drone is not going to replace them yet.

MANPADS means Man-Portable Air Defense System. Javelin is an anti-tank weapon, not an air defense weapon.

And the main advantage for Javelin over an FPV drone is that a Javelin is fire-and-forget; you don’t need to steer the missile yourself. It will attack the weaker top armor automatically.

Correct FPV drones are essentially useless against aircraft. I dont think anyone is using conventional RPG warheads or FPV drones against aircraft.

> "Javelin has a warhead capacity of 9Kg, for the same bang so to speak ( armor penetration) you would need drones that can hoist 9Kg"

This is false because a Javelin warhead contains propellant and guidance as well as the payload. In reality, a shaped charge capable of penetrating 200mm of steel weighs about 1 kilogram. Which is well within the capabilities of many drones under and around the 1000$ price range.

Many tanks and IFVs have been taken out on both sides by quadcopters carrying shaped charges. Plenty of penetration can be achieved by relatively lightweight shaped charges.

My source is the people in Ukraine to whom I donate and who are directly involved in drone purchases for frontline units: https://dzygaspaw.com/. They do buy <$1K FPV drones, and HEAT RPG-7 shots is one of the typical things that are strapped to them for anti-armor role.

A single-stage RPG-7 HEAT grenade weighs 2.5 kg, of which the actual explosive charge is only 700 g, and much of the rest is the powder charge that propels it in normal use, but is completely unnecessary for drone applications. And, as already noted above, you do not need the same absolute armor penetration capacity for these things, because the whole point is to attack from the side where armor is the thinnest and any exposed internal components are the easiest to disable. Judging by the videos of successful use, the most common technique is to attack the engine compartment directly from above.

Now, DJI FPV, which does retail for $1K (and can be had for less if buying in bulk) is certainly quite capable of lifting a 1kg warhead. But it should also be noted that these days, in most cases Ukrainians are using money more efficiently by assembling their own custom-tuned FPV drones from components and specially manufactured HEAT charges, which knocks the price down to ~$600 for the same lift capacity with better speed and range. They are still roughly the same size as DJI or only slightly larger, which can be readily seen in numerous videos on YouTube and Telegram showcasing their use. Here's one example of a locally manufactured FPV drone: https://neboperemogy.fund/dron-hrim/ - the lift capacity for this one is 2kg, sufficient for heavier tandem HEAT charges, and it costs ~$750.