FPV drones for Ukraine: Germany pays for 50,000 Shrike from Skyfall

Germany is financing 50,000 first-person view (FPV) combat drones that will go to Ukraine. Lorenz Meier, head of Auterion, a US defence software company, confirmed this to the Reuters news agency. The model being procured is the Shrike, manufactured by the Ukrainian company Skyfall. The order is worth around 90 million euros. The FPV drones are equipped with Auterion software that tracks targets automatically.

Skyfall recently caused a stir in the industry with the Shrike 10 Fiber: it took first place in the US Army's Drone Dominance Competition with 99.3 out of a possible 100 points.

The tests took place at Fort Benning in the US state of Georgia. There, members of the US Army assessed each system in scenarios replicating real combat conditions. Before the so-called Gauntlet missions, the pilots received only two hours of instruction on the system and less than ten minutes of flight training. With the Shrike 10 Fiber, five different pilots successfully completed every single Gauntlet mission.

Skyfall: the manufacturer behind the Shrike FPV drones

Skyfall is a Ukrainian technology and defence company. It has extensive research and development capacity and operates large-scale production lines for unmanned systems.

Its own development and production include the Vampire heavy bomber drone and the Shrike family, multi-purpose FPV kamikaze drones in various configurations. In addition, there is the P1 Sun interceptor: it is in active use against Shahed drones and other aerial threats and has proven particularly effective.

The company also includes the Skyfall Academy. More than 20,000 pilots, technicians and instructors have already learned there how to operate and maintain the unmanned systems.