A new AI-powered interceptor drone designed to take down Russia’s lethal Shahed UAVs has been unveiled by Latvian start-up Origin Robotics.
The BLAZE quadcopter uses computer vision and radar to autonomously track and lock onto incoming threats, which it then destroys using its small fragmentation warhead.
The interceptor drone comes with a price tag that is “at least ten times lower than the drone threats it is built to intercept,” Origin Robotics’ CEO and co-founder Agris Kipurs told Resilience Media, refusing to specify the drone’s exact price.
The cost of the drone, however, is a tiny fraction of the $4 million per missile paid for the U.S. Patriot missile interceptor system, which is the current staple of air defence technology.
Developing affordable interceptor drones has been a goal of Ukraine and its allies for some time, as the shift from costly missiles toward cheaper attack drones as the main method of air attack significantly altered the air defence mathematics.
Even the costlier Shahed drones, dispatched by Russia against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure in droves every day, cost only about one percent of the cost of the Patriot interceptor. Ukrainian air defence squads successfully down the Shaheds with machine guns or light anti-aircraft guns. But as Russia scales up those attacks, sending ever-growing fleets of Shaheds against targets in unoccupied Ukraine, it risks overwhelming the air defenders’ capabilities.
“Drones are relatively inexpensive and widely deployed to overwhelm air defences and strike targets both at the frontline and deep behind it,” Kipurs said. “We designed BLAZE specifically to address this threat—a fast, intelligent, and cost-effective addition to existing air defence systems.”
Ukraine has already celebrated first successes with interceptor drones on the battlefields. According to the Defense Express, the Darknode Unit of Ukraine’s Unmanned Defence Forces has reportedly destroyed over 60 Russian attack and reconnaissance UAVs including Shaheds using unnamed drone interceptors. The BLAZE quadcopter now promises to expand Ukraine’s arsenal of anti-drone weaponry.
BLAZE launches from its portable carrier box that doubles as a charging station and launch pad and can be dispatched after only five minutes of preparation. Despite its autonomous features, BLAZE remains connected with an operator via a radio link, waiting for a final human confirmation to execute its attack. The drone can either directly hit the target or create an airburst fragmentation detonation, which spreads debris over a larger area and inflicts damage from a greater distance.
