Ukraine has recently unveiled two new options for its Interceptor UAVs: launch from Magura USV and an RF seeker as an alternative to optical guidance.
Militarnyi reported that two new options for Ukraine’s interceptor UAVs have been shown, which are being actively used as low-cost alternatives to missiles and higher success rate alternatives to machine guns.
The first new development is the integration with another commonly used unmanned platform, Magura USV. It is seen that Magura can carry at least four launchers for the interceptor UAVs and act as a communication node to allow the crew to control the UAVs.
From an operational perspective, it is believed that Magura with interceptor UAVs will be used to shoot down UAVs passing through the Black Sea. However, efficient utilisation will require early warning, as Magura by itself only has optical sensors, which might lead to another new configuration fitted with a compact radar to accompany the C-UAS Magura.
The other important development is the Vega RF seeker, which would allow more reliable acquisition. As one might guess, optical seekers are prone to degradation from weather conditions like cloud or fog, while RF seekers are not.
Valkyrie Dynamics, stationed in Ukraine for development activities, stated to Militarnyi that Vega, consuming five watts of power and weighing less than 200 g, can detect Class 1 UAVs at a range of 100 m with centimeters-level precision. The company added that each unit costs about 460 USD.
While the range against Class 1 UAVs sounds short, it is likely to be considerably longer against large kamikaze UAVs like Geran-2/3, the type that interceptor UAVs are often employed against.
Author: Kaan Azman
Editor: Özgür Ekşi
