Sting Interceptor
Country: 
UkraineManufacturer: Wild Hornets
Ukrainian anti-drone interceptor in a twin ducted-fan configuration: Wild Hornets' Sting is designed to shoot down Russian Zala and Orlan-10 reconnaissance drones at a fraction of the cost of a SAM missile.
Ukrainian anti-drone interceptor in a twin ducted-fan configuration: Wild Hornets' Sting is designed to shoot down Russian Zala and Orlan-10 reconnaissance drones at a fraction of the cost of a SAM missile.
Community
Data trust
- Reliability
- Unverified
- Sources
- Sources pending review
Identity
- Designation
- Sting Interceptor
- Alias
- Wild Hornets Sting (hornet interceptor drone)
- Manufacturer
- Wild Hornets
- Country
- Ukraine
- Year
- 2024
- Category
- Counter-UAS
- Class
- Micro (< 250 g)
- Status
- In service
Performance
- Range
- 12 km
- Endurance
- 15 min
- Top speed
- 315 km/h
- Service ceiling
- 5,000 m
- Propulsion
- Ducted-fan elettrici ad alta velocità
Physical characteristics
- MTOW
- 2.5 kg
- Payload
- 0.5 kg
- Weapons
- Carica esplosiva di prossimità anti-drone
Onboard systems
- Sensors
- Telecamera FPV diurna/notturna
- Datalink / control
- Datalink radio FPV criptato
- Launch
- Decollo verticale / lancio a mano
- Recovery
- Impatto sul drone bersaglio (one-way)
Combat use
- ▸Interceptions of Russian Zala-421 and Orlan-10 reconnaissance drones (2024-)
- ▸Defence of HIMARS artillery assets against Russian fire-correction drones
Tags
Main operators
History
Developed by the Wild Hornets collective in 2024, the Sting is one of the first Ukrainian interceptor drones in serial production, part of the asymmetric response to Russian reconnaissance drones over the Avdiivka and Pokrovsk fronts.
Wild Hornets' Sting is one of the first Ukrainian counter-UAS (anti-drone) interceptors in serial production: the high-speed dual ducted-fan layout enables it to intercept Russian Zala-421 and Orlan-10 reconnaissance drones at over 300 km/h, until now only shot down with expensive SAM missiles.
The programme is a paradigmatic example of asymmetric economic warfare: a few-thousand-dollar interceptor replaces an IRIS-T or NASAMS missile costing hundreds of thousands.