Ukraine’s STING Loitering Munition Scores Over One Thousand Drone Kills
Over the past several months, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have rolled out a new drone-intercepting loitering munition known as STING.
Developed by the all-volunteer engineering group the Wild Hornets to counter Iran-designed Shahed drones, STING is a quadcopter-hybrid interceptor equipped with a dome-shaped warhead and a thermal camera. It uses a traditional FPV interface with a high-end digital video link and can be easily paired with ground-control stations. It is reportedly capable of reaching speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour and can operate at altitudes near 10,000 feet.
Since making its combat debut earlier this year, STING has scored more than 1,000 drone kills. In a potentially promising development, Ukraine’s principal combat formations have begun receiving large numbers of these munitions. Ukraine’s defense industry has even demonstrated the drone’s capability in live-fire drills before a high-level European audience: STING systems destroyed Danish target drones during friendly exercises this October.
Such smart and affordable solutions will only grow in importance as Russian drone production increases. Ukraine’s unmanned systems community warns that Russia’s Center for Advanced Unmanned Technologies—known as Rubicon—is expanding production at a pace that Kyiv cannot match.
Rubicon’s rapid growth reflects two advantages: heavy state funding and a structured recruitment pipeline. It is structured to integrate weapons production, deployment, and operations, and Russian youth programs have militarized thousands of 16- and 17-year-olds, training these minors to be drone operators.
Ukraine’s scaled deployment of STING comes at a crucial time for Kyiv as Russia leverages its institutional muscle to rapidly scale its drone warfare operations.
