Ukraine presents new “Shahed-hunter” drone at arms exhibition in Belgium

Defense Express reported the information.

At an exhibition of Ukrainian-made drones, a new anti-aircraft drone designed to destroy Shaheds was presented to the Belgian Prime Minister and representatives of Belgian defense companies.

The undisclosed developer stated that this drone is already in use and repelling Russian air attacks. In the past two months alone, it has reportedly destroyed over 20 Shaheds and around 10 reconnaissance UAVs.

The main challenge in destroying Shaheds with existing anti-air FPV drones is their speed, as Shahed's cruising speed is 180 km/h. A regular FPV drone simply cannot reach such velocity, which is why new specialized anti-air drones are needed to counter them.

The new "Shahed-hunter" drone is said to have a max altitude of 5 km, speed up to 200 km/h, with range undisclosed. Such characteristics allow it to effectively shoot down targets at high altitudes, when mobile fire groups with machine guns are no longer effective.

Surprisingly, the new drone is a fixed-wing type built in a “flying wing” configuration. Its carbon fiber body is more expensive to produce than 3D-printed frames. It features a single electric motor and two front-facing cameras — likely a thermal one for night target detection and a daytime camera. Image fusion analysis may be used to estimate the target’s distance.

The warhead is likely activated either by operator command or automatically when approaching the target. Overall, the new drone is designed to be a cheaper alternative to anti-aircraft missiles and an effective tool for destroying enemy UAVs, particularly Shaheds.