As quiet as a mouse, Japan has just

unleashed one of its most innovative

technologies. But that tech isn't being

deployed in Japan itself, it's inside

Ukraine, and it's busy making Putin's

surprise aerial strikes absolutely

powerless. What Japan just did for

Ukraine is insane, as it has delivered a

devastating blow to Russia without

firing a single shot. Japan didn't need

to. What it has delivered is the product

of an alliance with Ukraine that Putin

never saw coming. As the skies over

Ukraine are polluted with larger swarms

of Russian Shahiti type drones than ever

before, partnership has emerged between

a major Japanese company and one of

Ukraine's many drone development

businesses. Founded about 10 years ago,

Terror Drone Corporation is one of the

largest tech companies in Japan. With

650 employees and a listing on the Tokyo

Stock Exchange, it's a growing

enterprise that has announced its entry

into the defense sector and crucially

makes about 60% of its revenue from

alliances that it has built outside of

Japan. That's where Ukraine comes into

play. Deep in the frontline city of Kh

is a company named Amazing Drones.

Couldn't be more different than Terror

Drone Corporation in terms of how it was

created. Where terror was a business

born from a desire to profit, Amazing

Drones was created from the fires of a

war that Ukraine never wanted to fight.

But Amazing Drones has grown. What was a

volunteer initiative 3 years ago has

developed into a full-fledged company

that is a major part of the Brave One

defense cluster that Ukraine has set up

to encourage its drone manufacturers to

think big and create what Ukraine needs

to defend itself. Now, Amazing Drones is

working directly alongside Terror Drone

Corporation, and they have developed a

hugely important piece of technology

that could put an end to Putin's

surprise aerial bombardment strategy.

That technology is the Terror A1, an

interceptor drone that solves every

problem that Ukraine has with Russia's

Shahiti type longrange attack drones.

Born from a meeting between Amazing

Drones founder Maxim Clemenco and Terror

Drone founder Toru Tukosiga at a defense

exhibition in 2025, the Terra A1 is an

absolute beast in anti- drone defense.

With a top speed of 300 km or about 186

mph and a range of up to 35 km, which is

a little over 20 mi, this interceptor

drone offers the speed and range needed

to tackle Russia's incoming Shahid

drones. It can also cover the full

mission cycle for an interception from

initial surveillance to detecting

targets and finally interception all

within a single 15-minute flight. Don't

underestimate the importance of this

speed. What the Terra A1 lacks in

firepower as it doesn't carry anything

like the sort of warhead you would

expect from an attack drone. It more

than makes up for that by being 100 km

or about 62 mph faster than Russia's

typical Shahid type drone. So, this

isn't just an interceptor that loiters

and then gets into a position for a

Shahid to strike it. The Terra A1 can

hunt a Shahid down, chasing it in an

inescapable drone death dance in the sky

until it hits its mark and sends the

Russian contraption back to Earth with a

bang. Not that these death chases will

always be needed. In fact, they may

prove remarkably rare. As United 24

Media points out, the Terra A1 is a

stealthy drone. With its electric

propulsion system, it emits very little

noise and practically no heat signature,

making it incredibly difficult to detect

for a Shahi drone operator back in

Russia. In many cases, the only sign

that a Terra A1 is coming would be if

the interceptor flies in clear view of

the cameras set up in a Shahi drone. In

most cases, the Terra A1 will loiter,

spot a target, and blow it up before the

operator even knows it's coming. Oh, and

the Terra A1 can operate independently

of an operator. It's an intelligent

drone that can blow up Russia's Shaheds

without extensive training, be that of

the drone itself or the operator

controlling it. And here's where it gets

serious. The Terra A1 costs just $2,000

to build. Stick with us and you'll find

out why that's so important. But for

now, the partnership that has produced

this drone is still in the very early

stages of development, and scaling is

next on the horizon. Terror Drone has

already put its money where its mouth

is. A $10 million investment has been

made to fund the production of Terra A1

drones through one of its subsidiaries.

This is capital that provides more

benefits for Ukraine than the money

itself. Interest rates on Japanese

capital are around 2% while those in

Ukraine itself hover around 20%. What we

see here is an investment of cheaper

cash than amazing drones could get in

its own country. And that money is going

to be used to build more Terra A1s than

Russia can handle. Right now, production

is relatively slow. A single worker can

put together two Terra A1s per day. And

it's unknown how many workers Amazing

Drones has in its workshops, but

processes are being streamlined. Money

is pouring in, and very soon, the Terror

A1 is going to be manufactured at a

scale that could make it one of the most

important tools that Ukraine has for

defending its skies and its people

against the scourge of Russia's shiites.

That scaling will have to take place

under fire, and Tokusha knows that the

traditional sort of factory isn't the

answer. Such factories become targets.

But as the terror drone founder says,

Ukrainian engineers already have

practical know-how how to decentralize

production and operate under constant

threat. We are studying and considering

this approach as well. What we see in

that seemingly innocuous statement is

that it's far from a one-way

partnership. Ukraine is getting new

interceptor drones, but Japan is getting

knowledge and experience that is combat

tested and very much needed in a world

that is increasingly plunging into

chaos. Terror drone is already

considering launching the production of

Ukrainian drones on Japanese soil. There

they can be built both to benefit Japan

and potentially to be sent to Ukraine

for use against Putin's forces. What

we're seeing here is as important as the

Terror A1 itself, as Ukraine is forging

a relationship with a major Japanese

company that is spilling over into a

wider relationship with Japan itself.

We've seen inklings of this happening

already. Japan has been a constant

supporter of Ukraine in its war against

Russia, though predominantly on the

humanitarian side. In February, Japan

pledged $3.8 million to help Ukraine

repair some of its cultural sites that

had been damaged during the war. Another

$1.3 billion had been pledged to Ukraine

under the Japanese Peace in Ukraine

project as of April 1st. And also in

February, the UN announced the United

Nations Industrial Development

Organization has concluded a series of

grant agreements with 47 Japanese

companies that will start testing their

business models and technologies inside

Ukraine. These are signs of a burgeoning

relationship between two powerful

nations. The alliance between Amazing

Drones and Terror Drone is just one of

many examples. And there's more. In

March, the governments of Ukraine and

Japan began preparing an

intergovernmental partnership that

facilitates the transfer of defense

equipment and technologies. The idea is

to help the two countries participate in

more joint production, which in turn

will lead to localization projects focus

on weapons. Already, Japan is looking

into purchasing Ukrainian attack drones,

which could become a key part of its

offensive arsenal if tensions erupt in

the Indoacific. For Ukraine,

partnerships like these ensure a regular

influx of weapons and money, both of

which it can use to defend itself

against Russia. Ukraine is becoming a

major player in a global geopolitical

context, and none of this would be

happening if Putin hadn't made the dumb

decision over 4 years ago to launch a

full-scale invasion of a country that he

thought would crumble in days. Ukraine

stood firm. It's been doing that for

over 4 years. And the irony is that all

that Putin has succeeded in doing in

Ukraine is creating an even stronger

country that has developed ties with

allies that would never have existed if

Putin had just stayed put. But we'll

come back to that topic later. Before we

do, and before we cover why Terror A1 is

going to be important for Ukraine

directly, this is a quick reminder that

you are watching the Military Show. If

you're getting value from the insight in

this video, remember to subscribe to the

channel so you don't miss what's coming

next. Now, why is the Terra A1 such a

huge boon for Ukraine? The answer lies

in Russia's aerial tactics. Since it got

its hands on Shahid technology, Russia

has been engaged in the economics of

exhaustion against Ukraine. In other

words, it's been launching swarms of

drones at Ukraine in everinccreasing

numbers, all with the aim of burning

Ukrainian infrastructure, cities, and

people to the ground. The numbers are

horrific, though Ukraine is finally at

the point where it's able to match

Russia blow forblow on the longrange

front. In March alone, Russia fired off

6,462

drones at Ukraine. For the first time

since the war began, Ukraine has

exceeded Russia's monthly total,

launching 7,347

longrange drones of its own. But this is

new ground for Ukraine. Launching

multiple thousands of drones in a month

is well trodden ground for Russia, and

it's been causing problems on the

economic front. For so long, the counter

to longrange drone attacks was the use

of modern air defense systems such as

the Patriot units that Ukraine has

received from the US and other Western

allies. The Patriot is a very important

system for Ukraine. It's vital when it

comes to intercepting Russia's ballistic

missiles. But as an anti- drone defense

system, the Patriot is practically

useless. Has nothing to do with the

Patriot's capabilities and everything to

do with the sheer cost involved in using

the Patriot against drones. The Council

on Foreign Relations lays the numbers

bare. A single Shahid type drone costs

Russia about $35,000 to build. One

advanced Patriot missile interceptor

sets Ukraine back $4 million. It doesn't

take an economics genius to tell you

that the Patriot isn't the right weapon

for dealing with Russia's drones. If

that system had been all that Ukraine

had at its disposal in March, for

instance, Ukraine would have had to

spend over $25.8 billion to achieve a

100% interception rate. Of course, that

expenditure is ludicrous. But even

cheaper air defense systems such as the

Coyote set the user back $125,000 per

shot, the council points out. Ukraine's

big challenge beyond the damage that

Russia's drones cause has been finding

an air defense solution that makes sense

on a purely economic scale. It's here

where the Terror A1 could prove to be

the single most important weapon that

has entered Ukraine's arsenal. We told

you earlier that a Terra A1 costs

$2,000. Assuming a 100% interception

rate on Russia's March swarms, that

would add up to a little over $12.9

million. Certainly not an insignificant

amount of money, but far lower than

using systems like the Patriot. Then

there's the cost to Russia. If a Shahid

type drone costs $35,000, then $6,462 of

them costs over $226 million. Advantage

Ukraine. With weapons like the Terror

A1, Ukraine goes from scrambling to find

enough money to fund its air defense

network to knowing that every Russian

air strike is going to cost Putin far

more to launch than it will cost Ukraine

to overcome. There's also the added

benefit that technologies like the Terra

A1 allow Ukraine and Japan to point to

what the US is doing in Iran right now

and say, "Look, we have something better

and cheaper than Patriots that you can

use. The US could use something like

that." What it's doing in Iran right now

is far from efficient. On March 20th,

United 24 media reported on the comments

being made by Ukrainian drone

specialists who have been deployed to

the Middle East to help with Iran's

Shahi drones. There, the instructors

witnessed the US use up to eight Patriot

interceptor missiles to take out a

single aerial threat. In other

instances, the US has used SM6 missiles,

which cost about $6 million each, to

take out Shahid drones that cost just

$70,000. We told you earlier that this

sort of approach wouldn't be sustainable

for Ukraine. The same is true for the

US, even with its enormous military

budget. What Japan and Ukraine have just

done together could be something that

helps both to build stronger ties with

the US. But let's come back to

interceptor drones for a moment. Those

who've been paying attention to

Ukraine's approach to air defense during

the past few months will know that the

concept of interceptor drones is nothing

new. Ukraine has been using these kinds

of drones for months and they have

proven exceptionally effective. Pravda

reported on how effective these types of

drones have become for Ukraine in a

March 3rd piece where it revealed that

interceptor drones took down 70% of the

Shahi type attack drones that Moscow

launched at Kev during February. Across

all of Ukraine, interceptors are

responsible for taking down 30% of

Russia's attack drones. The

commander-in-chief of Ukraine's armed

forces, Alexander Searski, highlighted

the difference these types of drones

have made to Ukraine, stating, "Despite

significantly deteriorating weather

conditions and a shortage of strike

capabilities, in February, we did not

allow the performance of small air

defense to decline. Last month, our

interceptor drones carried out around

6,300 sorties, destroying more than

1,500 Russian UAVs of various types.

Bear in mind that this technology is

still fairly new, but Ukraine has been

jumping on it." The National Security

and Defense Council of Ukraine says that

2026 has already seen Ukraine increase

its internal production of interceptor

drones by eight times compared to 2025.

Now, more than 20 Ukrainian companies

are working in this field, and the

drones that Ukraine is producing have a

mission success rate that exceeds 60%.

That doesn't seem to be the case based

on Cerski's numbers, though the council

may be referring to total interceptor

deployments rather than a direct

comparison between interceptors used and

shaheds destroyed. Regardless, it's

clear that interceptor drones are a

major technology that Ukraine is leaning

heavily into developing further. What

we're seeing in the Ukrainian skies

right now represents the early stages of

that technologies development. The

Terror A1 is the next evolution. Fast,

autonomous, cheap, and built through a

partnership with the Japanese company

that opens the door for so much more for

Ukraine. And soon part of a

multi-layered air defense shield that

defends against Shahiti type drones at

close range while other systems deal

with Russia's missiles. There are

broader implications of all of this, and

we've touched on them earlier in the

video. What we're seeing with this new

partnership is another example of how

Putin has achieved the precise opposite

of what he wanted to do when he launched

his so-called special military operation

in Ukraine. That operation was supposed

to wipe Ukraine off the map. But what

has happened after 4 years of fighting

is that Putin's war has made Ukraine

stronger, geopolitically speaking, than

it has ever been before. The strength

and partnership between Ukraine and

Japan is just one example. Both see the

mutual benefits of forming defense ties

that couldn't have existed before

Putin's invasion forced Ukraine into

becoming the world's foremost innovator

in the drone space. We're seeing similar

types of relationships being formed

between Ukraine and partners all over

the world. In the Middle East, Ukraine

has signed decadel long defense deals

with several Gulf countries that are

looking for ways to combat the Iranian

Shahi drones that are the basis for the

drones that Russia fires into Ukraine.

Ukraine's assession to the European

Union is touted by some to be happening

as soon as 2027, and that will only

strengthen Ukraine's ties with a block

that has already been as stalwarts a

contributor to Ukraine's defense as they

come. Ukraine's drones have made much of

this possible. The likes of Saudi Arabia

and Qatar would never have even

considered partnering with Ukraine on

defense matters in the past. They

wouldn't have felt the need to. The same

goes for Japan. Ukrainian President

Vladimir Zalinski has already declared

that Ukraine is ready to share its

marine drone and interceptor

technologies with Japan as far back as

February and the Terror A1 may well be a

product of that sharing. All these

nations had modern military tech either

built internally or provided by partners

like the US. But now Ukraine is key to

all of their plans. In a weird and

roundabout way, Putin is the reason for

that. His war has made Ukraine stronger

on the geopolitical stage. And that

strengthening has come at a time when

Russia's global influence is weaker than

it has been for a long time under Putin.

In 2026 alone, Putin watched as

Venezuela's former dictator Nicholas

Majuro was taken out of the picture.

That's one ally down. The chaos in Iran

has cost Russia another ally in Ali

Kune. Though we still have to wait to

see if Operation Epic Fury delivers on

regime change that would [ __ ]

Russia's influence in the Gulf, right

when Ukraine's position in that region

is at the strongest that it's ever been.

Russia isn't even being trusted for its

weapons anymore as it burns through its

equipment stockpiles in Ukraine, proving

with every passing day that its weapons

aren't what they were marketed to be.

More of its former buyers are turning to

other suppliers. Russia's arms exports

have fallen 64% in the last 5 years, the

Moscow Times reported on March 9th. That

isn't just down to Russia needing more

of the weapons it produces. Customers

like India and China are buying less. As

this is happening, European Union

countries, of which Ukraine may soon be

one, are selling four times as many

weapons as Russia. So, Japan's Terror A1

is going to be huge for Ukraine in the

direct sense. A new type of interceptor

drone is more than welcome for a country

that is increasingly relying on these

cost-effective weapons to tackle

Russia's long-range assaults. But it's

the broader implications that should

worry Putin. With this deal, Japan and

Ukraine are closer than ever on the

defense front. The same can be said of

Ukraine and many other countries. Putin

can only watch as Russia's influence

crumbles and Ukraine's grows. Every

intercepted Shahid will hammer that

reality into the Kremlin's head. And

every terror A1 that takes flight

reminds Putin that Japan is on Ukraine's

side. But maybe Putin won't be paying as

much attention to Ukraine's and Japan's

new interceptor drones as he should. The

magical spear of Odin sounds like

something straight out of Norse

mythology. a godlike weapon, perhaps

offered as the reward for completing a

quest in a game of Dn D. But the spear

is real. It's in Ukraine right now. And

thanks to Sweden, Ukraine has something

so terrifying in its hands that Putin

knows he can't stop what's coming.

Gungir has arrived. And there's nothing

Russia can do about it. Russia knows

that this is the case because Gungir

isn't just some weapon that Sweden has

promised to deliver Ukraine at some

point in the distant future. It's not

only already in Ukraine, but it was used

in one of the most devastating strikes

that Ukraine has carried out against

Russia's military and oil infrastructure

in the Black Sea to date. We thought we

knew everything that Ukraine was willing

to reveal about that strike. On April

6th, the news broke that Ukraine's

unmanned systems forces had worked

alongside the country's naval forces to

launch a devastating strike against

Russia's seash offshore oil drilling

platform in the Black Sea. While

damaging that platform would be

important for Ukraine in terms of

landing another blow against Russia's

oil industry, the real reason why it

struck the seash platform was that

Russia has been using it as a

surveillance and military outpost for

much of the war. Radars for short-range

air defense systems had been loaded onto

the platform along with electronic

warfare systems. All of which

transformed it into a military asset

rather than an oil one. Ukraine took

seash down and as far as we knew it did

it using drones. That's essentially what

the commander of Ukraine's unmanned

systems forces, Robert Bravdy, claimed

when he announced the attack in a

telegram post. The floating drill rig

seash was worked out by the birds of 413

OP Reed, together with the forces of the

Navy's deep sea attack, Bravy declared.

And it's not like he was lying. Video

soon surfaced of Ukraine attacking Seash

using drones seemingly launched from

maritime drones sent into the Black Sea.

So that was it. The operation was done

and dusted, and we knew how Ukraine had

pulled it off. But looks can be

deceiving and Brovdy, purposefully or

not, had left out a key part of the

equation that has since been revealed.

It wasn't just drones that struck Seash

on the night leading into April 6th.

Ukraine had also unleashed Swedish

Gungir missiles. On April 7th, the Kev

Post reported that the Ukrainian Navy

had revealed and then later confirmed

the use of the Swedishmade RBS-15

missile in the Sebast known as Gungir,

which loosely translates into the

magical spear of Odin. The missile is an

anti-hship powerhouse and until this

point, it wasn't really known whether

Ukraine had the missile or not. The

outlet reports that a video made public

by Ukraine's Navy has revealed that

Gungir was used in the strike against

Seash and that footage has sent a shock

wave through Russia lasting for about 20

seconds. The footage shows Ukraine

launching its Swedish missiles from what

appears to be a groundbased platform.

The Osin warfare X account notes this is

the first public appearance made by the

Gungir in the Ukraine war. Though it

seems that Ukraine has had access to

Sweden's powerful missiles for much

longer. We'll be getting back to that

point soon. First, the video shared by

Osin warfare appears to show two

launches of the Swedish missile. The ke

post adds that other footage that has

surfaced shows those missiles scoring

direct hits against the seash platform,

which it says lies about 60 to 80 km or

about 37 to 50 mi northwest of the

Crimean coast. Comparisons between the

videos and clearer pictures of the

launchers typically used for the Gungir

offer further confirmation that Ukraine

has indeed deployed the Swedish missile.

Don't ignore the proximity of the Sebash

platform to the Crimean coast either.

That gives you some indication of why

Ukraine chose the specific oil drilling

rig to target. The electronic warfare

devices and air defense systems that

Russia has loaded onto the Seash

platform were clearly in place to

protect Russia's assets in Crimea. Now

those defenses are burning. Struck by

the magical spear of Odin with follow-up

strikes carried out by Ukraine's drones.

That oil drilling rig can no longer act

as an early warning system for occupied

Crimea. We anticipate reporting on a

strike against the Crimean mainland,

perhaps against targets off the coast

that Seash was protecting in the very

near future. For now, we can confirm

that the RBS-15 is officially part of

Ukraine's arsenal. That has caught

everybody off guard, not least Putin and

his Kremlin cronies, who thought that

Ukraine was increasingly being forced to

rely on the missiles that it's building

itself as it stockpiles of Western

missiles dry up. Seash just showed Putin

that Ukraine isn't in a one or the other

situation. It has both its own missiles

and western missiles and it can use them

to hit some of the most important

military assets that Russia has in

Crimea. So Putin has to deal with yet

another western missile being provided

to Ukraine. And this is where things

start to shift on the battlefield. The

arrival of the Gungir in Ukraine isn't

just dangerous for Russia in terms of

the firepower that the missile brings to

the table. It's also yet another sign to

Putin that his attempts to intimidate

Sweden into staying neutral have failed.

Russia has instead turned what for

centuries had been a country that tried

to stay out of war into one that is

actively arming a Russian enemy and is

doing everything that it can to stop

Putin in his tracks. We'll be exploring

the second of these points soon. Stick

with us until then. As for the missile

that Ukraine has just deployed to

shatter Seash, it's the last thing that

Russia wants to see in Ukraine's hands.

Why? A look at the basic specifications

of the missile is enough to answer that

question. Made by SAR Bow Force

Dynamics, the RBS-15 or robot system 15

if we want to get non- Norse about it is

actually a full-blown family of

anti-hship missiles that have been

designed to combine the ship shattering

capabilities you'd expect from this kind

of missile with a land attack capability

that makes it extremely versatile. The

missile's range can extend beyond 300 km

or 186 mi, though this depends on the

specific version of the gun near that's

used. The warhead weighs about 200 kg or

about 440 lb. And the missile is almost

capable of hitting Mac 1. It comes in

just under at Mac 0.9, but that still

translates to a speed of about 690 mph.

So Ukraine has its hands on a missile

that moves fast, hits hard, and has a

long enough range to be used to strike

all sorts of targets in the Black Sea,

Crimea, and the occupied territories of

mainland Ukraine. The key post adds that

the RBS-15 uses a combination of GPS and

inertial navigation to stay on track

when fired toward a target. It also has

a terminal active radar which gives it

homing capabilities that feed into the

fire and forget functionality that makes

the missile so effective. That

functionality offers precisely what it

says on the tin. Ukraine can program a

target into the missile, fire, and then

forget about having to make any manual

mid-flight adjustments as the missile

handles everything else itself. We

mentioned earlier that the RBS-15 is

actually a family of missiles. That's

led to speculation about which versions

Ukraine has and which it used to strike

the seash oil rig. Naval news has some

potential answers here. It says that the

footage that Ukraine's Navy released of

the missile being fired first confirms

the use of the RBS-15 because we see a

double exhaust plume emitted during the

launch phase. That's a characteristic

the Swedish missile is known to have and

it's also one that is absent in all of

the other missiles that Ukraine is known

to have in its arsenal. The outlet adds

that the version Ukraine used is likely

to have been either the Mark III or

MarkV variety of the Ganga, both of

which have several upgrades over early

iterations. The enhancement of the range

up to and over 200 km or 124 mi is one

of those upgrades. Ukraine is using the

Gunga to attack Russian facilities in

the Black Sea. That extended range is a

must. It's also worth noting that

Ukraine's target was a strange cross

between land and seabbased. An offshore

oil rig isn't exactly a ship, though you

could argue that it shares some

characteristics, especially as it's

based in the ocean. At the same time,

it's not really a land target, though,

will have strengths and vulnerabilities

that aren't seen on vessels. That

mishmash makes the use of the Mark III

or four version of the RBS-15 even more

likely, as these are versions of the

Swedish missile that were made to be

capable of striking targets on land and

sea. Versatility, then is key to what

makes the magical Spear of Odin such a

massive addition to Ukraine's arsenal.

However, there's one more factor at

play. That factor alone changes

everything and makes the RBS-15 the

perfect choice for the strike that

Ukraine just pulled off. But before we

get to that, this is a quick reminder

that you are watching the military show.

If this is the kind of insight that you

want to see, make sure that you are

subscribed to the channel. So, the other

factor,

the RBS-15 was already a good choice for

the attack on the Seash based on its

range and strength. However, there's

something else about the platform that

we mentioned earlier in the video that

may have caught your attention. In

addition to the air defense radars on

the oil rig that Ukraine wanted to take

out, Russia has been using the Seash oil

platform for its electronic warfare or

EW devices. Through EW, Russia is able

to scramble GPS signals and send both

drones and missiles off course. That's

where the RBS15 comes into play. The

missile has been optimized not only to

operate in coastal and open sea

environments, but it's also equipped

with electronic counter counter

measures. In other words, the Gungir has

EW of its own that it can use to

counteract the EW that Russia is

employing against Ukraine's missiles and

drones. It's a fire versus fire

approach. And what it means is that the

RBS-15 is innately resistant to the GPS

jamming and spoofing techniques the EW

devices loaded onto the Seash platform

employ that stop attacks just like the

one that Ukraine pulled off on April

6th. So, the magical spear of Odin

likely set the stage for what was to

come later. Ukraine used its Swedish

missiles to shatter Russia's Seash EW

systems and then followed up with the

drone strikes that we already knew

about. Those drones, unencumbered by

Seash's EW presence, could then strike

the oil drilling platform's air defense

radars with a level of precision that

wouldn't have otherwise been possible.

This is an incredibly intelligent and

layered approach to a strike. Ukraine

once again has shown Russia that its

approach to deep strikes goes far beyond

merely pointing missiles and drones at a

target and hoping they hit it. The seash

strike was well planned at every stage

and the Gungmemir was key to making the

whole thing work. That will worry Putin.

He knows that future strikes against

Russian assets in Crimea have been made

possible by the destruction of Seash.

But the real question he'll be asking

himself is how on earth this happened in

the first place. Russia has been caught

with its pants down as Ukraine has

unleashed a weapon that it hasn't used

before. However, if Putin was paying

attention, he would have at least had an

inkling that something like this was

coming. Though the arrival of the

magical spear of Odin appears to have

been quiet, it's actually the result of

dealings between Ukraine and Sweden that

have been a long time in the making.

Sweden set out its stall pretty early

when it came to who it supported

following Putin's February 2022 invasion

of Ukraine. Way back in June 2022, the

country committed to a defense package

that would see it send anti-tank

weapons, 12.7 mm rifles, and most

importantly, RBS17 anti-ship missiles to

Ukraine. That particular missile is

essentially the Swedish version of the

US-made Hellfire, only it had been

adapted so it could be launched from

warships or via a ground firing post

that could easily be set up and

dismantled anywhere alongside Ukraine's

coast. That was a warning to Russia.

Sweden was willing to arm Ukraine with

missiles from the very beginning of the

war. And as Militani noted at the time,

the far more powerful RBS-15 was still

waiting in the wings. However, not a lot

seemed to happen on the Swedish missile

front for 2 years after the arrival of

the RBS7. And then something changed. We

didn't hear much about it at the time,

and it was under reportported in the

media, but according to the Kev Post,

Sweden and Ukraine signed a deal at some

point in 2024 for the transfer of RBS-15

missiles to Ukraine. That means one of

two things. Either it's taken around 2

years for Sweden to deliver on the deal,

which is why we're only now seeing the

emergence of the Gungir in Ukraine, or

Ukraine received this missile months, if

not years ago, and it's been waiting for

the perfect time to unleash it. Either

way, Russia has just felt the power of

the magical spear of Odin, and there

could be a lot worse to come. The Kev

Post adds that Sweden is far from the

only country that uses the RBS-15.

Thailand, Algeria, Bulgaria, Poland,

Germany, Finland, and Croatia also

operate the missile. Of those countries,

all of the European nations are active

supporters of Ukraine's defense against

Russia, and they have all transferred

weapons to Ukraine in the past. Now, we

know that Sweden has signed a deal with

Ukraine to transfer RBS-15 missiles, but

what about Germany or Finland? Do they

have deals in the works? Have those

deals already been signed, and we just

haven't heard about them? Could

negotiations for Gungir transfers begin

now that Ukraine knows exactly how

useful its Swedish missiles can be

against Russia? These are all questions

that for now are unanswered. There are

also questions that should be ringing

out around the Kremlin as many of these

nations sending Gungir missiles to

Ukraine could mean that more attacks

against facilities like Seash line

Russia's future. And it gets worse for

Russia. Not only is Sweden supplying its

seas shattering missiles to Ukraine, but

it's actively working alongside Putin's

enemy on the development of more

missiles. That's according to Defense

Express, which reported back in January

2025 that defense officials from Ukraine

and Sweden had met to agree on a new

joint initiative for the development of

a longrange weapon. We haven't heard a

lot more about that deal since the

Defense Express report, but what it

shows us is that military cooperation

between Ukraine and Sweden is

intensifying. Putin has to be wondering

how things got to this point. Before he

launched his invasion, Sweden seemed to

be a non-factor to Russia. For 200 years

before the Ukraine war, Sweden had

steadfastly pursued a policy of military

neutrality and non-alignment that was

designed to ensure the country didn't

get dragged into other people's wars.

Then the tanks started rolling into

Ukraine and everything changed for the

Swedes. For the first time in two

centuries, Sweden saw a threat that it

needed to work to counter. The attitude

in the country became clear. First,

Putin would target Ukraine. Then, he

might shift his attention to the Baltic

and Nordic nations. Russia's aggression

is what led to Sweden giving up two

centuries of neutrality to become one of

the newest members of NATO. That move

was made official in March 2024, and it

led to the expansion of the collective

defense organization that Putin has

often used as one of the reasons for

launching his invasion in the first

place. Russia wanted NATO to get

smaller, to get rid of the nations on

the eastern flank that Putin believes

encroached too closely on Russia's

territory. However, all that Putin has

achieved with his invasion, at least

from the Swedish perspective, is turning

a neutral nation into an enemy. Beyond

NATO, Sweden has also thrown its support

behind Ukraine. We've touched on that

already with the missile and weapons

transfers that started as far back as

June 2022. But the alliance between

Sweden and Ukraine runs much deeper, and

that's a major problem for the Kremlin.

Since February 2022, Sweden has

contributed over 13.7 billion dollars to

Ukraine's war effort. Deals are also

being signed, as we see with the

transfer of RBS-15 missiles to Ukraine.

Other deals involve even more dangerous

assets, such as the ones signed between

Ukraine and Sweden that will see the

latter deliver up to 150 of its Grian

fighter jets to Ukraine over the course

of the next decade. Sweden even has

Russia in its cultural crosshairs as

meetings between Sweden and Ukraine's

cultural ministers show that it wants to

work with its newest ally on

derification across the board. When

Putin invaded Ukraine, he was meant to

win quickly. The so-called special

military operation would be over in

days, and Russia will be able to use

that victory to intimidate other

European countries. But as Ukraine

defended itself and Russia got bogged

down in a war that's now lasted for more

than four years, all Putin has succeeded

in doing is being the catalyst for

alliances to be forged that would never

have existed if his forces had stayed

put. Now Sweden is an enemy, one that is

actively treating Russia as the largest

threat to its national security, which

is what has laid the foundation for so

much of the cooperation between Ukraine

and Sweden that we're seeing today. So,

the magical spear of Odin being

unleashed against Russia is important

because of the immediate results that it

has achieved. Ukraine's Swedish missiles

have taken out a key Black Sea radar and

EW outpost, and that will lead to the

creation of more aerial corridors that

Ukraine's missiles and drones can follow

to hit Crimeir itself. But perhaps more

important than the strike itself is what

the strike represents. Putin has created

a Swedish monster. And now that this

monster is working alongside Ukraine,

nowhere in the occupied territories is

safe from Ukraine's wrath. Gungir isn't

the only weapon inspired by Norse

mythology that Sweden is using against

Russia. The wars in Ukraine and now in

the Persian Gulf, have shattered many of

the usual rules of engagement. All sides

in these conflicts are making prodigious

use of drones, both on the front lines

and for longrange strikes far behind

them. A massive arms race has ensued

with nations around the world scrambling

to develop the most deadly, scalable,

and cost-effective attack drones with

the utmost urgency. At the same time, an

equally crucial arms race has emerged

alongside counter drone technology, also

known as CUAS solutions. Counter drone

efforts run the gamut from cheap

handheld net guns to advanced missile

systems that cost hundreds of millions

of dollars. But now, Swedish giant SAR

has come up with a unique concept that's

been proven in action and may just

change NATO's entire approach to anti-

drone warfare, the Loki. So, let's take

a closer look at the Loki system, what

makes it such an innovative concept, and

how it could change drone warfare

permanently. Now, CUAS has become big

business. A spate of drone incursions

into European airspace in mid to late

2025 exposed how unprepared much of

Europe was for the kind of bombardment

by drone swarms that Ukraine and

increasingly Russia have been compelled

to continuously fend off. Traditional

missilebased air defense systems like

the MIM104 Patriot and the Iris T have

proven to be effective at taking out

long range drones like Russia's Shahed

Jiren variants. effective, but not cost

effective. It's simply not feasible to

use multi-million dollar interceptor

missiles to shoot down drones that cost

tens of thousands, especially not when

the drones can be produced at a rate of

hundreds per day, while the interceptor

missiles are produced at a rate of

hundreds per year. So, the race is on to

develop CUAS solutions. Now, between

2026 and 2030, NATO members and close

allies are expected to spend more than

$210 billion on air and missile defense

capabilities. Much of that will be

allocated for high-end systems like

Patriots, Iris T, and SAMP systems. The

need to protect against high-end threats

like Russian and Iranian crews and

ballistic missiles is as critical as

ever. However, billions are also pouring

into air defense systems specifically

focused on drones, especially systems

that offer a workable cost to kill ratio

and are easy to produce in large

quantities and quickly. The latest

unmanned airspace 2026 global counter

UAS systems directory lists over 1,000

CUAS systems from more than 550

companies that are under development or

in production around the world. The

directory breaks the systems down into

11 different categories. Systems for

capturing drones like net guns,

uncrrewed ground vehicles, detector

systems, directed energy weapon systems,

electronic counter measures or ECM guns,

integrated systems, intercept drones,

missiles, munitions, and others,

including software. But unlike most of

the systems listed, they might have

difficulty slotting Loki into one single

category or another. Because what makes

this system special isn't some brand new

high-tech way of bringing down drones or

innovative use of AI. Rather, its beauty

lies in pragmatically putting together

abundant existing components to create a

highly effective and costeffective

system. SAR didn't try to reinvent the

wheel. They didn't have to. Their

engineers looked at existing components

sitting on their shelves designed for

entirely different use cases and

realized they already had everything

they needed to produce the ultimate

drone killer. And it's a move that has

CUAS designers around the world going

either hang on why can't we do that or

gimme. Now the fact that it's SA coming

up with pragmatic and innovative

solutions to pressing military problems

should come as no surprise to seasoned

observers of the global

military-industrial complex. They've

been doing it for decades after all. The

company whose name is short for Senska

Aeroplan Aka Bolagget or Swedish

Aeroplane Corporation was founded in

1937. It subsequently became the

dominant defense industry company in

Sweden with a market cap in excess of

$35 billion. It's by far the most

important company in the country in

terms of scale, technological

innovation, and strategic importance.

Over the years, SAR has consistently

delivered a smorgus board of weapons

widely in demand around the world for

their quality, practicality, and

reliability. The most notable of these

are probably the iconic JAS39 Grippen

fighter jet, 84 anti-tank weapon, RBS-15

anti-ship missile, double eagle mine

clearing naval drones, KL Gustaf M4

recoilless rifle, trackfire remotes

weapon station, and giraffe radar

systems. And the last two items on that

list are now being combined in the brand

new Loki system. Loki was first

presented in February 2025. The fruits

of a collaboration between the Swedish

Air Force, the Swedish Defense Material

Administration or FMV, SAR and other

partners. It combines existing

technologies into a modular system that

can be assembled in different

configurations like LEGO. The system

integrates a mobile radar SARS Giraffe

1X with a trackf fire remote weapon

stationed armed with heavy and medium

machine guns along with electronic

warfare components. That means it can

track both physical targets and signals

in the electromagnetic spectrum

providing both early detection and

multiple options for neutralization.

Because of its modular design, other

attachments such as a directed energy

weapon, for example, could conceivably

be attached with relatively little

hassle in the future. More about those a

little later, but for now, the known

components of the system are all widely

used across NATO member states and

beyond, reducing interoperability and

operator training learning curves to a

minimum. Take the radar for example. The

giraffe radar family began development

in the 1970s with the first systems

delivered in 1977. They were originally

developed alongside the RBS70

surfaceto-air missile. Early giraffe

radars were mechanical 2D 3D pulse

dopplerless systems operating in the GH

band and designed to detect low-flying

aircraft in cluttered environments. Over

time, the family evolved into advanced

digital systems culminating in the

giraffe agile multi-beam or AM. The AM

is a 3D passive electronically scanned

array or PESA radar that has been widely

exported and used in both land and naval

roles as the sea giraffe in the latter

case. But the real leap forward came in

May 2014 when SAB unveiled the giraffe

1X, the variant used in Loki. Perhaps

with a nod towards the emerging field of

drone warfare, this compact Xband active

electronically scanned array or ISA

radar marked a shift toward mobility,

rapid deployment, and multiroll

capability. The ISO array allows the

radar to steer its beams electronically

rather than mechanically. That means

faster scanning, improved reliability,

and the ability to track multiple

targets simultaneously. The ISSA radar

also provides three-dimensional

tracking, meaning it can determine a

target's range, bearing, and altitude.

This is critical when dealing with small

drones or low-flying threats that can

blend into ground clutter. In addition,

advanced signal processing enables the

system to distinguish real targets from

birds, terrain, and weather effects,

improving detection accuracy in

congested environments. The result is

that the Giraffe 1X offers 360° coverage

with a full volume scan every second.

It's sensitive enough to detect low,

slow, small, or LSS targets like drones

on top of its counter RAM. That's

rockets, artillery, and mortars. Sense

and warn functionality. The land variant

has a range of around 47 mi, while the

naval variant has a range of around 61

mi. More recently, the Giraffe 1X

deployment set was added in 2023,

improving transportability and

readiness. And in 2024, the compact

radar module was introduced, enabling

the antenna to be folded into the

housing at the press of a button. With a

total system weight under 330 lb, it can

be readily deployed on light vehicles,

mast, or rooftops to provide

simultaneous air and surface

surveillance. It can be operated either

remotely or locally and offers flexible

integration with command and control or

C2 systems. In other words, it can be

seamlessly linked with other sensors,

communication networks, weapons

platforms, and decision-making tools to

enable coordinated military operations.

With all those features, little wonder

that demand for the Giraffe 1X has been

high. The US, Sweden, Latvia, and the UK

are all procuring the system either to

be used on light vehicles, tactical

units, fixed sites, or integrated into

naval platforms. Now, it's also the eyes

and ears of Loki. That makes perfect

sense. The giraffe's characteristics are

perfectly suited to a modular mobile

CUAS platform like Loki. Even better,

with healthy demand from home and abroad

for the various iterations of the

Giraffe for almost half a century, SA's

production lines are welloiled and it

inventories are well stocked. From SA's

perspective, for Loki, the giraffe is

pretty much an off-the-shelf solution.

And it's more or less the same story

with the weapon system that fires at the

targets identified by the giraffe. The

trackfire remote weapon station or RWS.

Like the giraffe, its choice was

somewhat of a no-brainer for SA.

Trackfire is a remotely operated weapon

and sensor system specifically developed

by SA for integration on naval vessels,

fixed defense positions, and land

vehicles, i.e. on platforms just like

Loki. The system was publicly launched

at the DEI 2007 Expo in London and

entered service in 2012 with Finland's

Navy, its first major deployment. That

was followed by a 2017 contract with the

aforementioned FMV that saw the track

fire integrated domestically onto combat

boat 90s and other naval platforms. And

at least 26 of those boats ended up in

Ukraine. Since 2022, Sweden has sent

Ukraine 21 packages of direct military

aid worth a whopping 11.3 billion.

Included were donations of advanced

weapons systems like Archer artillery,

Stridzvan 122 tanks, air defense

systems, and CB90 boats like Trackfire

RWS. 10 CB90s were delivered to Ukraine

in February 2024 and a further 16 in

January 2025. As it turns out, those

Trackfire integrations were some of the

last of the old configuration of the

system. The new configuration, no doubt

heavily influenced by Ukraine's

experiences during the war, was about to

be unveiled. The Trackfire Aries was

also unveiled at DSEI, albeit of the

2025 edition. It's specifically designed

for CUAS operations, and it's the

perfect fit for Loki. Optimized for high

precision and crew protection while

firing on the move, it supports 360deree

azimuth rotation with elevation from

minus20° to + 55°. Now, those aren't

particularly impressive specs compared

to rival RWS systems, which typically

also have 360° azimuth. The naval

variants of the Kongsburg Protector RWS

and Korean Hanoir Defense Naval RWS have

the same depression of minus20° but a

slightly higher elevation of plus 60°.

Rin metal RMG30 RWS variants typically

offer -15° to a plus 60° elevation and

the Turkish Aselson stamp naval RWS

beats all of them with a minus15° to a

plus 55° spread. Now, that's the kind of

information you find on any old military

focused channel on YouTube. Here at the

Military Show, we dig beneath the

headlines to bring you the real story.

So, make sure you subscribe to the

channel so you never miss out. So, the

Trackfire might be at a slight

disadvantage compared to some of its

rivals. But what it lacks in amplitude,

it more than makes up for in precision.

It features true stabilized independent

line of sight or silos for short. That

means the independently stabilized

sensor module is decoupled from the

weapon's axis and thus isolated from

weapon recoil effects that enables the

operator to maintain an uninterrupted

line of sight on the target, greatly

reducing target acquisition times in the

process. The Trackfire Aries's unique

configuration also enables a target to

be continuously lays during the

engagement sequence, providing a highly

accurate and comprehensive ballistic

calculation, including 3D target

prediction. But the real value is

perhaps this. It's a modular system

designed to be configurable,

interoperable, and implementable on an

expanding set of platforms. There are

two main units onto which others can be

plugged. The first is a director unit or

DU which houses the sensor module or SM.

The DU connects to the human machine

interface or HMI which includes the

gunner's display, fire control panel,

control handle, and video tracker. What

that means in practical terms is that

the crew has a powerful visual

representation of the environment and

its targets at its fingertips. Operators

can literally identify threats, select

the appropriate response, and fire

without having to break visual contact

with their screens. A dual command

facilitates shared capabilities, leading

to even shorter response times and

reduce sensor to shooter cycles. Plus,

the system is set up for integration

into other platform systems, meaning

targeted image data can be transmitted

both within the platform and to and from

others. As for the firepower it can

deliver, flexibility is the Trackfire's

middle name. A wide range of weapon

aectors can be mounted, often in

combination with one another. The Aries

variant comes standard with a 30x113 mm

M230 LF Bushmaster chain gun, but it can

also handle the Browning M2 HMG 12.7 mm

heavy machine gun, FN Mag 587.62

mm generalpurpose machine gun, MK19 40x

53 mm, and the HK GMG 40x 53 mm grenade

launchers and lighter missiles. You can

also mount complimentary solutions such

as non-lethal aectors and jammers. In

Loki's case, the suite includes a

Browning M2, an FN Mag 58, and

electronic warfare components for

jamming. However, any of the other

weapons we just mentioned, along with

smoke launchers, dazzlers, spotlights,

loudspeakers, and even lightweight

cannons can also be mounted onto it as

required. But even the basic package

gives you something most other CUAS

systems don't. two different detection

and engagement options, physical and

electromagnetic spectrum tracking. This

gives you multiple options for

neutralization in addition to early

detection. And that goes a long way to

solving the elephant in the room problem

for NATO. Cost appropriate responses

against small lowcost drones. Now, it's

not just the cost of the materials that

factor into the equation when developing

CUAS solutions. The time it takes to go

from idea to active in the field is just

as huge a concern. The longer it takes,

the more costly the end product is

likely to be. In this regard, Loki must

have broken some kind of NATO record. It

took just 84 days to get from evaluation

to delivery. An eyewateringly small

amount of time compared to most weapon

systems. Loki was actually conceived as

a kind of speedrun experiment to see how

quickly the Swedes could evaluate and

deliver a new CUAS system. And the

experiment definitely seems to have

worked. What began as a defense industry

demonstration turned into an intense

3-month sprint to deliver a mobile

adaptable system to the Swedish Air

Force's combat units. Evaluation began

in January 2025 and less than 3 months

later, working units were delivered

ready for testing in the field. That's

genuinely quite a feat of modern

military engineering. So, how did they

do it? Well, according to Carl Johan

Bergholm, senior vice president and head

of SA surveillance business area, since

this wasn't a typical product

development cycle spanning several

years, we had to think outside the box

and take an innovative approach to

overcome this challenge by cleverly

repurposing existing products and

integrating new features and

technologies. We brought the concept

together at record speed. Now, having a

stack of world-class components on the

shelf ready to be integrated into the

new system no doubt helps significantly.

Of course, it's one thing to deliver a

prototype. It still has to prove itself

on the battlefield. And in Loki's case,

it already has. In September 2025, SA

confirmed that Loki had been deployed

for the past 6 months in Poland. It had

been used at the Malborg air base where

Swedish forces from the 21st wing and

later the 17th wing had been on NATO

assignment. Their task was primarily

securing Allied facilities including a

logistics hub central to the transfer of

military aid to Ukraine. So how did it

perform? The official word is well

pragmatic and understated. As you might

expect from a Swedish officer, effective

air operations require robust ground

protection. The systems we deployed

significantly strengthened base security

both for us and our allies, said

Lieutenant Colonel Christian Berlesen,

commander of the Swedish contingent in

Poland. Photos of the system give us a

bit more detail. Markings on the system

indicate successful interceptions of 36

quadcopter type drones and 17 fixedwing

UAVs during the radar tests. The photos

also reveal the MacGyver like

construction of the system. The radar

was simply mounted on a pallet and

secured with elastic tie downs. The

power supply was also arranged simply

and practically with wires routed

through an extension cord likely

connected to a generator. Next to the

radar is a red container equipped with

antennas, clearly the jamming box. It

hasn't been painted, likely reflecting

the project's emphasis on speed rather

than refinement. Now on the one hand

that focus might present some issues for

SAR as it markets the Loki around the

world. The system is now being trained

at the platoon level by the Swedish 21st

Wing with full integration into combat

units planned by the end of 2025. But

NATO integration requires a stricter set

of standards such as regulatory wiring

practices. By the looks of these early

models, some elements will likely need

to be tidied up before they can be more

widely deployed. But on the other hand,

the collaborative spirit and agile

approach employed in developing Loki

could serve as a blueprint for future

projects or even a shift in NATO

doctrine. As Swedish Air Force Chief

Major General Ununas Wickman puts it,

"This is a clear example of how we are

building the capabilities required and

that we're prepared to deviate from

normal processes to meet today's threats

quickly. We need to constantly evolve

and find fast and competent solutions to

build a stronger air force." Now, we

don't know how much it costs, but Loki

is scalable and adaptable to evolving

threats since it can be further enhanced

with additional sensors and weapon

stations as required. It can even

operate during redeployment, providing

continuous protection while on the move.

It slots effortlessly into layered air

defenses and is designed for expanding

integrations and interoperability with

other systems. How many other systems

can NATO say that about? Those features

could be a critical factor in the years

ahead. The humble Iranian Shahed drone

has changed warfare to the extent that

even the US was compelled to reverse

engineer it to quickly create an analog

of its own. Nothing can match the power

of high-end systems like the Patriot and

THAAD to detect and destroy inbound

aerial arrivals. But Ukraine alone could

swallow an entire year's production of

Pac 3 missiles in a matter of months if

it could get its hands on them. Maybe

the face of warfare is changing so fast

that the age-old, lengthy, but lucrative

defense production cycle just isn't

sustainable anymore. It's too expensive

and way too slow. This is a brand new

US-made system that's never been seen in

action before. And it's reportedly

achieving great success in bringing down

Russian longrange German attack drones

in Ukraine, the Tempest. So, let's take

a closer look at this system and the

unique role it could fill in Ukraine's

anti- drone air defenses. When Russia

first invaded Ukraine in February 2022,

unmanned airborne vehicles were an

ancillary aspect of warfare used

primarily for reconnaissance and

standoff strikes. But in less than 4

years, they've become critical elements

of both offense and defense for both

Russia and Ukraine. On the front lines,

kamicazi FPV drones of both the GPS and

fiber optic guided varieties dominate

the skies, making any form of movement

extremely dangerous. And deep in the

rear of both nations front lines, long

range attack drones like Russia's Geran

family of loitering munitions and

Ukraine's FP1 re down hell on critical

infrastructure like power stations and

ports. Russia's relentless attacks on

Ukrainian energy infrastructure with

missiles and gerons has left major

cities like Keev, Khkefe, Nepro and

Odessa in the dark without heat or water

for extended periods in the middle of a

frozen winter. So stopping these nightly

bombardments has never been more

critical. And now Ukraine has a fearsome

new arrow in its quiver. In early

January 2026,

Ukraine's Air Force Command Center

released a video showing the Tempest

system in action, proving that at least

one such system was on active duty in

Ukraine with the Air Force the likeliest

operator. Interestingly, a heavily

blurred version of the same video was

released the previous October,

suggesting that the system had been in

use in Ukraine for several months before

its use was confirmed publicly. The

Tempest system made by the Virginia

based defense contractor V2X was only

unveiled in October at the Association

of the United States Army or AUSA

exhibition in Washington. No official

announcement of the supply of the system

to Ukraine has been made by the company

or US military sources. However, the

fact that a western weapon system has

been covertly tested or put into service

with the Ukrainian armed forces is

hardly an isolated case or

controversial. Since Russia's invasion

began, numerous Western companies have

exposed their prototypes and emerging

systems to actual combat in Ukraine, a

situation that's evolved from ad hoc to

official. In July 2025, Ukraine's

foremost defense innovation cluster,

Brave 1, announced the launch of a new

program called Test in Ukraine that

allows foreign companies to test

military technologies on the

battlefield. According to Brave 1, the

initiative allows foreign companies and

governments to create solutions for real

war challenges while receiving immediate

feedback from military personnel and

improving their products based on combat

experience. It also streamlines

procedures for acquiring permits to

import the gear and addresses practical

scenarios like what happens when testing

equipment gets damaged or destroyed

during battlefield trials. So it's

unsurprising that a system like the

Tempest has been covertly put through

its paces in Ukraine like so many other

weapon systems. Not all of these

experiments work out. For example,

Ukraine recently pulled the plug on new

orders for HX2 strike drones from German

defense startup Heling. The HX2 was

designed to operate autonomously using

AI for terminal guidance, midcourse

navigation, and visual target

acquisition. However, despite previously

announced plans to acquire up to 6,000

of them, they reportedly failed to meet

expectations during frontline testing by

Ukraine's 14th regiment. Although

refuted by Helsing, the Ukrainian forces

reported issues with takeoff, a lack of

promised AI features and vulnerability

to electronic warfare jamming which

disrupted communication with operators.

Based on the limited information

available about its performance to date,

the Tempest seems to be far more

effective. In the footage shared by Air

Force command of the Tempest system in

operation, an operator identified with

the call sign shorty says, "As of now,

our crew has destroyed 21 Shahhead

drones. The Shahhead 136 is the original

Iranian drone from which the Geron

family has been adapted. This machine

keeps the sky locked down, he says,

adding that his crew had previously been

deployed to Ukraine's eastern regions

where they destroyed all targets they

attacked there. Now, love watching

Frontline Tech actually prove itself in

battle. Hit subscribe to the Military

Show. We break these systems down while

they're still smoking. So, what is the

Tempest system and what makes it such a

compelling proposition for Ukraine's air

defenses? In a nutshell, the V2X Tempest

is a highmobility vehicle with a

launcher for AGM114 Hellfire missiles

that have been optimized for a counter

unmanned aerial systems or CUS role.

It's understood to fire the longbow

variant of the missile, which carries a

20 lb warhead and uses radar instead of

laser guidance to track and home in on

targets. The system combines a twin

longbow launcher with the radar, which

is placed on a highly mobile, modular,

and lightweight 4x4 chassis, a Canon

Maverick X3 SSV by the looks of it.

According to V2X, the buggy platform is

built from commercial off-the-shelf or

coots components, delivering speed,

modularity, lethal precision, and

scalability in a lightweight

configuration tailored for forward

deployed counter UAS missions. It's a

design philosophy that emphasizes speed,

simplicity, and survivability. The 4x4

chassis means the Tempest can maneuver

across rugged terrain with ease, keeping

pace with mechanized infantry or special

forces units in dynamic environments.

Its low profile and high agility make it

ideal for rapid shoot and scoot

engagements where threats are detected

and intercepted and the vehicle then

quickly repositions before the enemy can

respond with counter battery fire or

electronic targeting. These shoot and

scoot capabilities are further enhanced

by the fire and forget features of the

longbowow missile that the Tempest

fires. Originally designed for the US

Army's AH64D

and E Apache Longbow attack helicopters,

it's the most advanced variant in the

Hellfire missile family. The missile is

equipped with an active millimeter wave

radar seeker that enables autonomous

target acquisition and engagement in all

weather conditions without requiring

continuous operator guidance. With a

range of up to 5 mi, the missile allows

the Tempest to neutralize larger class 2

and three drones, loitering munitions,

and even low-flying helicopters. To keep

the system compact, efficient, and

highly focused, B2X opted for a single

Radert type radar as opposed to a full

spectrum sensor suite. This makes

perfect sense given the systems focus

mission profile. Although a Rader type

radar is limited to a single direction,

it provides focus accurate target

tracking and fire control data for the

missile system while keeping the

vehicle's electronic signature low,

allowing it to remain undetected until

it's ready to strike. This kind of radar

is not intended for wide area

surveillance, but rather to serve as the

final engagement center, receiving cues

from external sources in a network's

battlefield environment. And that's

exactly the kind of integrated air

defense setup in which Ukraine is

deploying it and where it may provide an

incisive edge to fend off the variety of

aerial threats posed by Russia which

range from fighter jets and bombers

through ballistic and cruise missiles

fired from land, sea, and air to drones

of various sizes and ranges. Ukraine's

air defenses consist of multiple layers.

At the heart of Ukraine's anti- drone

wall is a network of detection systems,

including radar and thermal systems,

which identify incoming drones, track

them, and alert the components of the

wall that shoot them down. These are

augmented by a network of electronic

warfare systems, which disrupt drones's

navigation, forcing them to ground, to

miss their intended targets, or even in

some cases to return to sender in

Russia. In terms of shooting the drones

down, the first layer is Ukraine's

fighter jets, including Soviet era

Sue27s and its US-made F-16s and French

Mirage 2000s. Missiles fired from these

jets have proven pretty effective at

taking down high value arrivals like

cruise and ballistic missiles. However,

Ukraine has few of them. They're

expensive to operate and maintain.

stockpiles of the missiles they fire are

in short supply and they're not

cost-effective solutions against Russian

drones that are much cheaper. The next

layer is Ukraine's network of

traditional missilebased air defense

systems such as its US-made MIM104

Patriot and German Iris T systems.

They've proven effective against

incoming high value missiles and drones

alike and are typically placed to

protect Ukraine's key cities and

infrastructure.

However, much like the fighter jet

situation, these high-end launchers and

the missiles they fire are also limited

in number both inside Ukraine and in the

stock piles of its allies. The missiles

themselves can also be much costlier

than gerands, making them a far from

ideal solution for bringing down these

noisy destructive pests. At the base of

the layered anti-defense network are

mobile fire groups. These are

essentially small mobile units on

vehicles mounted with heavy machine

guns. They're numerous, highly mobile,

quick to deploy, and systems like the

German Flak Panzer Japard have proven

very effective at bringing down common

Jiren variants along with a plethora of

other Russian reconnaissance drones and

loitering munitions. The Japard features

twin 35 mm Ericon KDA autoc cannons

firing a combined rate of 1,100 rounds

per minute. Paired with an S-band

surveillance radar with a detection

range of roughly 9 miles and a coup

tracking radar, it's ideally suited for

engaging fastmoving low-flying drones

like the Jiren and Jiren 2 variants. The

Japard fires high explosive and

subcaliber 35 mm ammunition that

detonates near the target or tears

through it at extreme velocity, creating

a dense cloud of fragments in the

drone's flight path. The result is a

very high probability of kill against

drones and loitering munitions. More

importantly, a single ahead shell is

estimated to cost around $1,000 compared

to gerons which are estimated to cost

between 20,000 and $100,000 depending on

the variant, warhead, and other included

features. This ammunition is also much

more plentiful and quick to produce than

interceptor missiles. That means

compared to missile-based systems, the

Jetard offers a low cost to kill ratio,

allowing Ukraine to preserve its limited

and expensive missile stocks for higher

impact threats like Iscanda arrivals. As

a result of these advantages, the

Jeepard and other similar mobile machine

gunbased systems have become key

components of Ukraine's anti- drone

defense. However, there are limits.

While they're quick and cost-effective

to deploy and thus ideal for shoot and

scoot operations, machine guns are only

able to engage targets at limited

altitudes and relatively low speeds.

They're perfect for defending against

the standard low-flying moderate speed

Jiren ones and twos. However, in recent

months, Russians have adapted Jirens to

fly at much higher altitudes beyond the

range of machine guns. The newer Jiren 3

drones are also jet powered as compared

to the propeller-driven earlier

iterations, greatly increasing their

cruising speed and making it harder for

slower moving bullets and shells to

bring them down. In addition to a dozen

or more Russian missiles, Ukraine's air

defenses must contend with anywhere from

100 to 600 long range drones on a

nightly basis. Many of those are much

cheaper gabbera decoy drones

specifically designed to distract and

use up precious air defenses with

payload bearing gerons flying through

the gap that process creates. If these

drones are flying beyond the reach of

its gun-based defenses, Ukraine is

basically left with two bad options.

Using its limited and expensive missiles

to bring them down or bracing for

impact. It's a tricky challenge for

Ukraine to overcome. It needs a drone

killer that has the range of an

interceptor missile, but is as quick and

cost effective to produce as a shell. In

response to this challenge, Ukraine has

introduced a new layer to its anti-

drone war. And it's arguably the one

with the most promise, interceptor

drones. In essence, this involves using

small, cheap, high-speed drones to shoot

down the much larger gerons and other

Russian loitering munitions like the

BM35 Ital. It's an ingenious solution

that solves both parts of the challenge.

Firstly, the drones being used as Jiren

killing projectiles are essentially

modified FPV drones of the type in

ubiquitous use by Ukraine on the front

lines. Ukraine has reportedly been

producing hundreds of thousands of these

drones monthly since 2024. So, producing

thousands of interceptor drones monthly

is not only extremely doable, but for

the most part without foreign

assistance. These interceptor drones

also typically only cost $3,000 to

$5,000 to produce. That may be several

times more than a jetard shell, but it's

several times cheaper still than even a

low-end $20,000 Jiren. With a new

improved jet powered Jiren 3 and Jiren 5

variants, estimated to cost upwards of

$100,000.

These cheap interceptor drones are a

seriously cost-effective way to take

them out. The available evidence

suggests they're also pretty effective

with an average success rate of 68%

according to President Vladimir

Zalinski. In July, he set a target of

production of 1,500 FPVt type

interceptor drones a day and by the end

of the year that target had reportedly

been met. It's an impressive feat and

one that likely enables Ukraine to build

up a stockpile. Although Russia

reportedly has the capacity to pump out

500 gerons and gabberas a day, it

typically only uses a fraction of those

in its nightly raids, meaning it's

almost certainly building up a stockpile

itself. If Russia ever decides to launch

the mega strikes involving thousands of

Jirens that have often been predicted

but never materialized, a large

stockpile of interceptor drones will be

worth its weight in gold. Indeed, with

so much focus on interceptor drones in

Ukraine these days, and in light of its

wellocumented struggles to reliably

secure high-end systems and interceptor

missiles from partners, where does the

Tempest fit into its air defense matrix?

Well, for starters, it's unclear just

how many Tempest systems Ukraine already

has. The footage revealed so far only

verifies a single system, and given how

new the system is in general, it's

highly unlikely that there are more than

a couple of Tempest in active service

with the Ukrainian armed forces at

present. Still, if it's as effective as

Shorty says it is, and if it's deployed

at scale, it could slot neatly into

Ukraine's air defenses as another

oblique layer. If interceptor drones

filled the gap between missiles and

guns, the Tempest mobility and

ruggedness could fill a gap between

interceptor drones and Ukraine's

existing high-end missile-based air

defense systems. For the most part,

Ukraine's Patriot, Iris T, and other

high-end land-based systems are kept

well away from the front lines. They

guard key cities and facilities in the

rear from Russian Iscander, Caliber,

Kinszal, and KH 101 missile strikes and

are used sparingly due to the ongoing

shortage of replacement interceptor

missiles. Ukraine's jards and other

machine gunbased mobile defenses are

also predominantly found in the rear,

protecting the same cities from the

girens that typically accompany the

missile strikes. The fact that they're

vehicle mounted gives them shoot and

scoot capabilities that would make them

just as effective on the front lines.

But that's not where Russia tends to

target its girens. Russia primarily uses

fablide bombs, fiber optic FPV drones

and artillery on the front lines, not

loitering munitions. Girens are for

power stations, ships loaded with

Ukrainian grain and multi-story

apartment buildings far from the meat

grinder of the front lines. Now, in the

same rear high value defense setting,

the Tempest would likely only add

marginal value to Ukraine's air

defenses, especially in places where

Patriot or Iris T systems are also in

place. The Tempest's Longbow missile

only has a range of around 5 mi compared

to the Patriot Pack 3's 112 mi and Iris

TLM's 25 mi. Its effective altitude is

also significantly lower, 20,000 ft, as

compared to the PAC 3's 120,000 ft and

the SLM's 66,000 ft. So, they're only

really effective against low altitude

targets and offer a much shorter

engagement window than their more

illustrious counterparts. Then again, at

less than $150,000

each, long bows are two to four times

cheaper than SLM missiles and much, much

cheaper than Pack 3es, which go for $4

to $7 million each. They're also likely

to be substantial stockpiles of Hellfire

missiles available for use with Tempest.

By 2021, more than 87,000 Hellfires of

all variants had been produced, with

estimates suggesting that roughly 10,000

to 14,000 of those were AGM114L

longbow missiles specifically, and many

of those appear yet to be expended. But

with more cost-effective jets and

interceptor drones also in the mix for

targeting low-flying gerons, it's hard

to make a case for mass deployment of

Tempest in a rear setting. However, on

and close to the front lines, the

Tempest might give Ukraine an edge. A

missilebased air defense system that can

be quickly deployed almost anywhere,

fire, and disappear before the Russians

even know it's there. The missile

launchers are installed on either side

of the vehicle's roof, giving the

Tempest a balanced elevated firing

platform with wide engagement arcs. The

Longbow missiles are fire and forget, so

once they launch, the vehicle doesn't

need to stay in contact with them,

dramatically reducing operator exposure

time. They can fall back almost