Ukraine’s new interceptor drone moves toward mass production after first kills against jet-powered Russian drones that fly like cruise missiles

Ukrainian drone manufacturer Wild Hornets says its new STING-family interceptor drone has destroyed about ten Russian Geran-4 jet drones and several Geran-5s—technically also drones but ones whose jet engines make them functionally small cruise missiles—in limited deployment over recent days, according to an interview with a company representative published by NV on 22 September. The company says it plans to begin mass production within about a month after completing combat tests.

Russia has sharply increased its use of jet-powered Shahed-type drones this year. At least twenty firms were already racing to field interceptors by early September. Their higher speeds can cut the reaction time for Ukrainian mobile fire groups from about a minute to as little as six seconds. Two companies have completed combat tests, and 67 companies are working on interceptors, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

A new product, not an upgrade

Wild Hornets told NV it began work on jet interception in early 2026 and described the new interceptor as an entirely new product rather than an upgrade of the existing STING design. To handle the faster targets, the company developed a remote-control system called Hornet Vision Ctrl that lets experienced pilots operate interceptors across multiple sectors at once—the same system now used against jet-powered Gerans.

"We are working on that, but right now we are focused above all on creating a cheap, mass-producible, and simple-to-use means of countering jet Shaheds," the company told NV, answering a question about expectations that Russia could field mass jet missiles at 700–800 km/h by winter.

The company said it knows of no fully automatic interception system proven in combat and that its own AI integration is aimed at assisting the operator.

The jet-powered threat

Air Force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat said in August that the use of jet-powered drones had increased roughly fivefold in July compared with June. The Geran-5 can reach speeds of up to 600 km/h and carry a warhead of roughly 90 kg, according to specifications published on HUR's War & Sanctions website. The new jet Shaheds run on turbojets from a single Chinese company. Iran, which originally armed Russia with Shaheds, now wants the jet-powered Geran-5 remake back.

Earlier this month, a new interceptor successfully hit a jet-powered Shahed during testing, but "some aspects of controlling the interceptor still need to be refined," Zelenskyy said. Days later, he showed footage of a Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) interceptor destroying a jet-powered Shahed during a military counterintelligence operation. The SBU said it was the first footage showing the destruction of a jet-powered Shahed.

Separately, footage published by Wild Hornets showed its STING interceptor striking a Geran-5—a jet-powered drone that functions as a small cruise missile—in flight: