At the Defense Tech Innovations Forum 2025 in Kyiv, Ukraine officially showcased the Trembita light cruise missile, a domestically produced weapon designed to strike deep behind enemy lines.
According to Ukraine’s Army TV, the missile has the potential to reach Moscow, offering a low-cost, high-impact solution for Ukraine’s military. TV channel My-Ukraina (We Are Ukraine) reported that each Trembita missile costs just $4,000, making it a significantly cheaper alternative to similar Western munitions.
Ukraine unveils Trembita missile – it runs on regular gas and could reach Moscow.
— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) February 21, 2025
🔹 Weight: 100 kg
🔹 Warhead: 20 kg (thermobaric or high-explosive fragmentation)
🔹 Range: 140+ km
🔹 Speed: 400+ km/h
🔹 Altitude: 30m – 2000m
🔹 Fuel: A-92 & A-95 gasoline
📹ArmyTV pic.twitter.com/qNkwc0c37Q
Key specifications:
🔹 Range: Up to 200 km (larger version: 800–1000 km)
🔹 Warhead: 20–30 kg (thermobaric or high-explosive fragmentation)
🔹 Speed: 150 m/s (540 km/h)
🔹 Fuel: Runs on standard A-92 & A-95 gasoline
🔹 Cost: $4,000 per unit – significantly cheaper than US ATACMS ($1M+)
Trembita is built with simplicity and affordability in mind. One of its key advantages is that Ukraine can produce it independently, without reliance on foreign funding.
The missile comes in two versions:
✅ Combat Missile – designed for precision strikes
✅ Decoy Missile – meant to confuse and exhaust enemy air defenses
“This is a simple, all-metal missile with a solid-fuel booster and a basic engine. The technology is over 150 years old. Our goal was to make it as cheap and effective as possible,” one of the developers, Serhii (last name undisclosed) told Suspilne.
Ukraine plans to produce up to 2,000 units per month, with manufacturing spread across hundreds of small contractors to prevent Russian airstrikes from disrupting production.
Tactical approach
Unlike other stealth weapons, Trembita is designed to be seen. The decoy version deliberately attracts enemy radars, forcing Russian air defenses to waste expensive interceptors.
“We want them to see and shoot at these missiles. That benefits Ukraine,” said Serhii.
The combat version, in contrast, is equipped with high-precision electronics for targeted strikes. Each launcher fires eight missiles per volley, with a standard barrage of 24 missiles mixing real and decoy targets.
“There’s no way for the enemy to tell which are real. This way, we weaken Russian defenses and follow up with more strikes,” he added.
The warhead size can be adjusted based on mission needs. For longer-range strikes, less explosive is used to accommodate more fuel. Ukraine’s launch and targeting system is a proprietary development, featuring a secure GPS and other undisclosed guidance technologies.
The existence of Trembita was first reported in April 2023, with a 140 km range at the time. In November 2024, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy set a target of producing 3,000 long-range missiles by the end of 2025.
Read more:
- Economist: Ukraine secretly revives its missile industry amid aid uncertainty
- Kremlin kaboom? Ukraine develops missile that can reach Moscow
- Ukraine’s defense industry draws $1.5 billion in foreign Investment through ZBROYARI project
