The use of drones and loitering munitions by Russia in recent months has come at a relatively low financial cost but has increased the costs for Ukraine to launch effective anti-air systems, says GlobalData. The leading data and analytics company notes that whilst Ukraine has had a high degree of success in combatting these attacks, the VAMPIRE anti-drone system will provide a more cost-effective solution compared to the MiG-29s, S-300 and NASAMS ground defense systems which the country is currently using.

The VAMPIRE anti-drone system can be easily mounted on the back of a civilian truck, and will be delivered to Ukraine in mid-2023. The system is being produced by L3Harris at a cost of around $27,000 per unit, which is cheaper than utilizing aircraft or ground defense systems.

William Davies, Associate Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The estimated cost of the Shahed loitering munition used by Russia is between $10,000 and $50,000 thousand, and as such is relatively cheap to deploy. Along with the use of COTS drones in the battlefield, Russia, which, at the start of the war was using ineffective and expensive domestic drones, is becoming a serious threat to Ukrainian civilians and its military infrastructure.”

The diverse array of drones in modern conflict, ranging from larger drones to small loitering munitions, means that counter drone systems (C-UAS) must be capable of detecting and stopping an equally diverse range of threats, whilst having a low enough cost per shot ratio. The advantage of the VAMPIRE system is it is easy to mobilize as needed, as well as being low cost and meeting Ukraine’s anti-drone needs. The utilization of converted commercial drones alongside traditional anti-air systems could provide Ukraine with an effective multilayer air defense network. As unmanned systems continue to proliferate warfare C-UAS will become increasingly vital.

Davies continues: “The deployment of the VAMPIRE system will give Ukraine the freedom to mobilize its anti-anticraft systems to defend key infrastructure, but the range limit of the system is around 2 miles, and this combined with the fact that it won’t appear in Ukraine until the middle of 2023 means it is not yet a miracle solution to Ukraine’s drone problems.”