Ukraine Develops Reusable Jet Drone Shotgun-Armed Interceptor
Ukrainian defense developer “Technari” has introduced a new reusable drone interceptor designed to neutralize Iranian-made Shahed drones used by Russia in its attacks on Ukraine.
The new unmanned aerial vehicle, the Mongoose, is a jet-powered, fixed-wing UAV equipped with a heat-seeking guidance system and a multi-barrel shotgun designed to disable enemy drones by targeting their engines or propellers.
Technari disclosed the development during the second phase of the Defense Builder accelerator program. The company, based in Odesa, is also known for creating the ePPO air defense alert app and other military technologies.
“We are rocket engineers, and we would not have entered the UAV segment at all if we had seen at least one working solution to counter the ‘Shaheeds’,”
says Technari CEO Gennady Suldin.
In addition to the popular mobile application “ePPO”, the “Technari” design bureau headed by him has developed the virtual simulators “Chaika” and “Chaika-M”, laser-thermal imaging stations “Poloz” and many other products for the military. Representatives of the anti-aircraft missile brigades, with whom “Technari” actively cooperates, turned to Odessa engineers with a request to create a “flying machine” to shoot down the “Shaheeds”.
According to Suldin, almost all interceptor drones currently used to shoot down the Shaheds or being developed for this task will soon lose their relevance. “The vast majority of them have a maximum speed of no more than 250 km per hour,” explains the CEO of Tekhnariv. “If the Russians start putting more powerful internal combustion engines on the Shaheds, not to mention jet engines, then the current interceptor drones will not be able to catch up with them.”
Unlike existing FPV-style interceptors, Mongoose is designed for multiple missions. It can continue targeting additional drones after a successful engagement or return to base for refueling and rearming.
The drone reaches speeds of up to 310 km/h, with a service ceiling of 5,000 meters and an operational range of approximately 12 kilometers. This makes it suitable for intercepting current and future iterations of Shahed-type drones, including those equipped with faster propulsion systems.
Technari has also developed a proprietary heat-seeking guidance system for Mongoose. It visually acquires a target from 800 meters and switches to autonomous homing at 150–200 meters. After locking onto the heat signature of the enemy drone, the Mongoose automatically executes its final approach and attack without requiring operator input.
The interceptor uses a shotgun-based system to disable the target. Following an engagement, the drone remains airborne to either search for additional threats or return to base.
Technari estimates that each Mongoose unit could neutralize up to 10–12 Shahed drones over its lifecycle. While the company has not disclosed unit costs, Suldin stated that this multi-use model would be more cost-effective than single-use interceptors, especially given Ukraine’s current need for up to 200,000 anti-Shahed drones annually—a scale not achievable by existing production capacities.
Sources: UNITED24MEDIA; DEFENDER MEDIA
