7.10.2025
The drone war that Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has escalated into has led to the emergence of new weapons against UAVs . European manufacturer Thales has developed a cheap anti-aircraft mini-missile with a “shotgun” warhead designed to combat just this type of threat.
Such mini-missiles are already being used in Ukraine to combat Shahed-type strike drones, Business Insider reports .
According to the manufacturer, a new FZ123 warhead has been developed for the compact 70mm rocket . It is filled with thousands of tiny steel balls that fly in all directions when the nearly kilogram-sized charge explodes.
The impact zone during an explosion is up to 25 meters in diameter. This is enough to destroy a drone.
But these steel balls can hit a drone at a greater distance – depending on how far the missile flew, they can spread even wider, because the ammunition works on the principle of a shotgun.
The maximum range of the missile itself with such a warhead is up to 3 km.
As stated by Thales Belgium’s Director of Vehicles and Tactical Systems, Thomas Colinet, the new mini-missile is already being “deployed” in Ukraine, and currently the demand from Kyiv exceeds the company’s production capacity.
“The good news for us is that if they ask for more, it means they are satisfied,” said Coline.
He also refused to disclose the scale of deliveries of these missiles to Ukraine.
More expensive than drones, cheaper than missiles
A Thales representative did not disclose the cost of the anti-aircraft mini-missiles already being delivered to Ukraine. He noted that these missiles are more expensive than the Ukrainian drones used to destroy the Shaheds, but significantly cheaper than the standard anti-aircraft missiles in service with Western armies.
Thales Belgium said that even the most expensive of its laser-guided mini-missiles typically cost about a fifth of the price of a conventional missile. According to Business Insider, the cheapest AIM-7 Sparrow anti-aircraft missiles, which can be launched from F-16 aircraft, cost about $125,000 per unit.
As OBOZ.UA reported, Russia is facing a shortage of missile carriers , but is building new launch pads for “kamikazes.” In September, Russian occupation forces used Shahed-136/Gerbera/Parody drones and decoys quite intensively.
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