A Lithuanian manufacturer whose loitering munitions and reconnaissance drones are in Ukrainian service is bringing its full range to London this week, including a counter-drone interceptor built to shoot down Shahed and Lancet types, according to Granta Autonomy.
The company began supplying uncrewed aircraft to the Ukrainian front immediately after the full-scale invasion and says it is one of only a handful of suppliers to have remained continuously active since, changing its equipment to keep pace with the battlefield. Ukrainian forces now operate a full battery of its systems funded by European defence ministries, among them the X-Wing loitering munition and the Hornet XR reconnaissance drone.
The newest product is the Black Wasp, a vertical take-off interceptor engineered to counter Shahed, Geran and Lancet drones. It reaches 320 kilometres an hour with a climb rate of 30 metres a second, uses the company’s machine learning flight control system for automated flight, precision tracking and terminal guidance, and integrates with radar networks for three-dimensional targeting telemetry.
The X-Wing combines vertical take-off with fixed-wing efficiency to reach 70 kilometres with more than 45 minutes of loiter, carrying a four-kilogram anti-armour or fragmentation warhead and using machine targeting for navigation and strike where satellite signals are denied. The Hornet XR is a hand-launched reconnaissance aircraft weighing 3.2 kilograms, with more than three hours of endurance, a 70-kilometre control link and a deep-stall recovery for landing.
Gediminas Guoba, chief executive and founder, said: “Our team regularly tests our solutions on the frontlines alongside military operators. The new Black Wasp and X-Wing demonstrate our commitment to scalable, EW-resistant architecture. Paired with our Hornet XR, the X-Wing allows a single ground station to control a pair of ‘sensor’ Hornets alongside up to 30 ‘shooter’ X-Wings, creating a complete, highly effective kill chain that outpaces complex and costly alternatives.”
That last claim is the one to examine closely on the stand. One operator running two reconnaissance aircraft and thirty strike aircraft from a single ground station describes a quite different arithmetic from the one Western forces are used to, where each airframe generally requires its own crew, and it is the arithmetic that has made Ukrainian drone units effective against far better equipped formations.
The company also builds two-axis stabilised micro-gimbals in Lithuania to European standards, with dual electro-optical cameras offering up to 40 times zoom. The 180-gram NightScout carries a thermal camera for surveillance work, while the 135-gram SOLO is built for loitering munitions, and three-axis gimbals are due in the first quarter of next year.
Granta is exhibiting at Apex Europe at The Magazine in London on Wednesday and Thursday.
