Ukraine's Defense Ministry has codified and approved the domestically produced MAC OWL "Sova" armored vehicle. It has a V-shaped armored hull, 16 mm-thick side armor, and a capacity for up to 10 electronic-warfare modules forming a defensive dome against Russian FPV kamikaze drones, Oboronka reports, citing the Defense Ministry.
MAC OWL "Sova" is a joint Ukrainian-European product developed by Ukrainian company MAC HUB together with Paramount Greece, a European subsidiary of South African defense manufacturer Paramount Group.
It is rated to STANAG 4569 4a/4b, which is the highest mine-protection class, withstanding explosions of up to 10 kilograms of TNT equivalent.
MAC OWL "Sova" addresses the two most operationally lethal threats to Ukrainian troops in 2026: anti-vehicle mines and Russian FPV kamikaze drones.
Design philosophy and origins
The MAC OWL "Sova" is built on the armored body of the South African Mbombe 4 MRAP, which has been substantially adapted for the realities of the Russo-Ukrainian war.
Work on the project lasted more than a year. Ukrainian engineers, together with the military, including representatives of Ukraine's Defense Intelligence Directorate (HUR), refined the construction, increasing the number of firing ports, improving ergonomics, optimizing the chassis for Ukrainian operating conditions, per Espresso.
"Designers together with the military implemented 30 years of experience from local conflicts... The result was an armored vehicle with the highest level of crew protection," the Defense Ministry said.
Depending on configuration, MAC OWL "Sova" weighs 14.2 to 15 tonnes
It is equipped with an 8.9-liter turbodiesel engine producing 450 horsepower, which is the most powerful among all Ukrainian special armored vehicles. The vehicle has a 45-centimeter ground clearance, comparable to that of heavy military trucks, with a total height not exceeding 2.8 meters.
The cabin accommodates two crew members plus six or eight troops. The vehicle's 16-mm-thick side armor is reportedly the thickest among Ukrainian and foreign analogs in this class.
The FPV-defense dome and the 2025 procurement scaling
The 10-EW module capacity is the most operationally distinctive feature of the MAC OWL relative to earlier Ukrainian armored vehicles. Russian FPV drones, operated by individual pilots and used against Ukrainian vehicles, infantry, and frontline infrastructure, have become the dominant tactical threat in 2025-2026, with Ukraine documenting more than 11,000 Russian FPV attacks on civilians alone.
