TheTechno Optimist.

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Wild Hornets

Sting interceptor drones, Ukraine

UAnon-profitest. 2023wildhornets.com (opens wildhornets.com)Checked 11 Oct

The brief

Analyst view
  • Sting costs roughly $2,000 to $2,500, against $20,000 to $50,000 for each Shahed it destroys.
  • Output passed 10,000 interceptors a month by March 2026.
  • Gulf states want Sting, but exports need Ukrainian government approval.

Technical approach

As reported
Cheap airframes

3D-printed, mass-produced drones

3D-printed frames keep each interceptor around $2,000, cheap enough to spend one on a single kill.

Pilots

Built for FPV pilots

Sting flies like a first-person-view (FPV) attack drone, so an experienced FPV pilot can switch to it in three or four days.

Remote control

Hornet Vision Ctrl

A remote-control system lets pilots fly interceptors from hundreds of kilometres away, so one crew can cover many launch sites.

Primer