Interceptor drone Sting: Wild Hornets report shooting down jet-powered Shaheds

Even military experts have long acknowledged without dispute that Ukraine is making considerable progress in the use of drones. Behind the concept of the interceptor drone lies an air defence asset that costs little and can be manufactured in large numbers.

Manufacturer Wild Hornets is now reporting several successful interceptions – achieved not against the classic propeller-driven long-range kamikaze drones of the Shahed/Geran-2 type, but against their jet-powered version, which is considerably more expensive and flies faster and higher. Until now, jet Shaheds had been considered beyond what interceptor drones are capable of.

How the Sting interceptor drone came about

Wild Hornets produces 10,000 drones of various kinds per month, among them the large first-person view (FPV) drone Hornet Queen, flown with a view from the pilot's own perspective, and the Sting. The latter's concept was only conceived in spring 2024, so the Sting is not even two years old. From June 2024, several prototypes were tested with varying batteries, propellers and cameras; this resulted in a configuration that has since been produced for the Ukrainian military. The first kill dates from April 2025.

The task is not an easy one, however. A balance has to be struck between an economical speed with long endurance and high speed, which reduces range – a genuinely difficult decision. To search for targets, pilots have only their camera. Even when radar data on the target's position is available, it first has to be found visually.

Statistics show that this balance has been achieved and that good drone pilots trust the Sting: measured by the number of Shaheds and Gerberas destroyed, it has been the No. 1 interceptor without interruption since October 2025 – seven months in a row.

Control over hundreds of kilometres

The latest development is the Hornet Vision Ctrl system. It allows the operator to steer the interceptor drone from hundreds of kilometres away from the launch point. The system has been in operation since the end of March. At the beginning of April, FPV pilot Roman “Hulk” of the Bulva unit brought down two Shaheds from 500 kilometres away. In mid-April a record followed at 2,000 kilometres – the drone pilot at the laptop was not even in Ukraine any more.

How fast and how high the Sting can actually fly is not disclosed. According to official figures, it reaches 280 km/h and altitudes of up to 5,000 metres, climbs at up to 30 metres per second and has a range of up to 37 kilometres; the tactical operating radius is given as 18.5 kilometres. The warhead accounts for 500 grams of the 3.7-kilogram take-off weight. What is certain, however, is that the jet-powered Shahed flies higher and above all faster than the propeller-driven derivatives.

Interceptor STING downs another jet-powered Shahed 🔥
The “Rubin” crew of the 1020th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment has taken down their second jet-powered target in a week. And even with Hornet Vision Ctrl remote control.
The enlarged warhead can carry up to 50 kg of… pic.twitter.com/4megj8Bu2S— Wild Hornets (@wilendhornets) May 3, 2026

The successes may already be attributable to the Sting 2.0. Following the start of production, this variant is currently being built in small series and has been handed over to the military for testing. The pace of development is also shown by this: Sting 1 has only been flying for about a year and is delivering very good results – but Russia's war of aggression does not allow anyone to rest on these laurels. A potential successor is therefore already in the starting blocks. Only its name is known, however; photos and data are lacking.

Compared with the relatively inexpensive MANPADS (-> Small missiles with a big impact: what are MANPADS?), whose price is in the low six-figure euro range, the Sting interceptor drone costs next to nothing. A drone costs around 1,000 to 2,000 euros; the necessary accessories, such as the required 360-degree antenna and the control system, cost a further 4,000 euros.

The Sting is not exported: domestic demand for so-called “small air defence” exceeds what Wild Hornets' 1,500 3D printers can deliver. Thijs Wolters writes in the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf:

Over Ukraine an air war is raging that is fought almost exclusively by unmanned aircraft. The Sting plays the leading role in it and is at least as important for Ukraine as the Spitfire was for the British during the Battle of Britain.— Thijs Wolters, De Telegraaf

It only remains to add that the Battle of Britain was, as is well known, won by the British.