UMEX 2024 – Wedrones’ Karma anti-drone UAV will fly in 2024

Currently, there are no cheap effective systems for destroying loitering munitions on the battlefield, the developers of the new UAV explained. The use of expensive anti-aircraft guided missiles for these purposes is not cost-effective. According to Wedrones, this problem can be solved with the help of an anti-drone UAV equipped with various air-launched weapons.

Wedrones, a private company based in Abu Dhabi, unveiled at UMEX-2024 a model of the Karma, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for combating kamikaze drones.

The UAV model presented at the exhibition has an aircraft aerodynamic design with a straight trapezoidal wing with a fairing at the junction of the wing and the fuselage. The tail fin, shaped like an inverted-V, is mounted on two tail booms.

The UAV is entirely made of composite materials and is equipped with a piston gasoline engine, located at the rear of the fuselage, fitted with a two-blade pusher propeller. The engine manufacturer is a German company, which the developers refused to name.

Airborne anti-drone weapons can be located on wing hardpoints, which were not presented on the demonstrated model.

The speed of the anti-drone is 250 km/h, maximum flight altitude is 5,000 metres, communication range is 100 km, flight duration is 2 hours. The UAV takes off from a catapult and lands on its landing gear. It can be used repeatedly up to 40 times, returning to the launch site after completing a combat mission.

“We are confident that our development will be in demand on the world market,” noted a company representative. According to him, the approximate cost of the system is about 250,000 dollars, less than the cost of two Stinger MANPADS.

As representatives of the development company told EDR On-Line, the new device will make its first flight this year.

Photo courtesy N. Novichkov