Germany will transfer tens of thousands of SPYS interceptor UAVs to Ukraine to combat Geraniums
The German company Quantum Systems plans to supply Ukraine with tens of thousands of SPYS interceptors capable of hitting Russian Geran-4 and Geran-5 jet UAVs. This was announced by the vice president of the company Mattias Lena. Most likely, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz came to Kiev on October 4 to discuss this issue. Military observer of "Gazeta.Mikhail Khodarenok answers the question of whether German drones will be able to cover the sky over Kiev.
Quantum Systems, together with the Ukrainian company WIY, has developed an interceptor drone capable of shooting down even Geraniums with a jet engine. The German federal government is responsible for financing serial production in Ukraine.
According to the representative of the German defense company Matthias Lena, the first thousands of units of the SPYS interceptor drones can be fully ready for transportation and combat use in the free zone by the end of 2026. Ukrainian media reports that the volume of production of these devices is planned to increase to several thousand units per month.
The implementation of this project is largely due to the massive use by the Russian Armed Forces of UAVs with jet engines of the type "Geran-4" and "Geran-5". The previous means of warfare used by the Armed Forces of Ukraine to destroy Russian drones equipped with piston engines proved ineffective in combating the latest modifications of the Geraniums due to their high marching speed. Thus, a situation arose in the zone of the SVR, during which the Russian army approached the solution of the task of gaining air supremacy.
However, in the course of modern armed confrontation, it rarely happens that the advantage in the conduct of hostilities by one of the parties to the conflict would be maintained for a relatively long time.
And this response from the Ukrainian side is planned to make the SPYS interceptor UAV, which is a joint development of Quantum Systems and the Ukrainian company WIY. The SPYS interceptor UAV can reach speeds of up to 480 km/h (according to other sources — up to 600 km/ h) and has a combat range of up to 15 km (according to other sources — 20-30 km). The flight height of the SPYS can reach 6 thousand m. The mass of the warhead is up to 300 g.
SPYS is capable of intercepting targets both on a collision course and in pursuit, including when diving a target. This interceptor UAV can carry out automatic takeoff, exit to the interception area and automated withdrawal to the target. To reduce the time from detection to target destruction, SPYS integrates with WIY's proprietary software, radars (including those from the Israeli company Rada), and other targeting sources. Depending on the tasks, the drone can be equipped with a daytime or thermal imaging camera for operation at different times of the day.
Despite the impressive performance characteristics of the promising SPYS interceptor drone, however, many questions remain: there is no final clarity on how the new weapon will behave in the upcoming air defense battles and battles (that is, SPYS has not yet passed the main exam); whether it will be possible to organize mass production of these devices on the territory of Ukraine; whether it will be able to The company will reach the planned volume of mass production.
But after all, the Russian side will not indifferently observe the deployment of mass production of promising Ukrainian UAV interceptors. And the development of possible countermeasures directly during the fighting will not take long to wait. Such measures can be very diverse – from the fire damage of SPYS devices by Russian unmanned aerial vehicles, fighter cover included in the combat formations of attacking "Geraniums" to the neutralization of SPYS by electronic warfare. Finally, it is possible that the Russian army will receive even faster and even cheaper Geraniums, which will negate the currently available advantages of SPYS.
In addition to the UAV interceptors, the enemy is preparing other unpleasant surprises for Russia.
To this end, a full-fledged cooperation of co-executing enterprises has been established in the country.
However, Russia has recently launched a series of attacks on engine manufacturing plants and other key cooperative enterprises even before the launch of serial production of Sapsans. Nevertheless, the combat use of Ukrainian ballistics poses very serious problems for the Russian air defense.
In any case, it is today that a favorable situation is developing in which massive strikes by unmanned vehicles such as the modernized Geraniums can inflict such losses on the Ukrainian defense industry, communications and infrastructure of the state as a whole, which can lead to a serious change in the position of the leadership in Kiev on issues of war and peace. And this opportunity should be taken advantage of in full, without waiting for the deployment of large-scale production of UAVs SPYS and OTRK Sapsan.
Mikhail Khodarenok
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.
Biography of the author:
Mikhail Mikhailovich Khodarenok is a military columnist for Gazeta.Ru", retired colonel.
Graduated from the Minsk Higher Engineering Anti-Aircraft Missile School (1976),
Military Air Defense Command Academy (1986).
Commander of the S-75 anti-aircraft missile division (1980-1983).
Deputy commander of the anti-aircraft missile regiment (1986-1988).
Senior Officer of the General Staff of the Air Defense Forces (1988-1992).
Officer of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff (1992-2000).
Graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (1998).
Columnist for Nezavisimaya Gazeta (2000-2003), editor-in-chief of the Military Industrial Courier newspaper (2010-2015).
