Thailand Commissions Shahed-Like Kamikaze Drones KB-5E and KB-10G, Already Combat-Tested Against Cambodia Alongside Oplot-T Tanks, Gripens

The headline reads like a routine force-modernization notice: the Royal Thai Air Force has formally commissioned two locally designated kamikaze drones, the KB-5E and KB-10G. What makes it worth our attention is the phrase buried in the reporting — that both systems were quietly used in the 2025 border clashes with Cambodia before formal adoption. That sequence, combat first and paperwork later, tells us more about how attritable strike munitions are diffusing than any specification sheet does.

The mechanics are familiar to anyone tracking the Shahed family. Both airframes weigh roughly 40 kg at takeoff, a commonality that matters as much as the range figures. The KB-5E carries a 5 kg warhead to about 150 km; the KB-10G doubles the warhead to 10 kg and extends reach to roughly 500 km. GPS guidance keeps unit cost and complexity low, and a shared airframe means shared launch rails, shared training, shared sustainment. This is the same design logic that made one-way attack drones the defining munition of the past several years: modest performance per unit, bought in numbers, employed in salvos, and cheap enough that losing them is an acceptable cost of doing business. A 5 kg warhead is not a bunker-buster; it is a precision tool against radars, parked aircraft, command vehicles, logistics nodes, and exposed infantry positions. A 10 kg warhead at 500 km pushes that threat into operational depth — rear depots, airfields, bridging equipment.