OCTOPUS: Volodymyr Zelensky Presents the Ukrainian-British Interceptor Drone
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky presented the OCTOPUS interceptor drone, created jointly by Ukrainian and British engineers.
The presentation took place during the President’s official visit to the UK. The Office of the President reported this, and the President posted a video of the demonstration.
The UK will begin production of OCTOPUS drones for testing in Ukraine. After the tests are completed, the British side is ready to scale up production.
The launch of mass production in the UK and at Ukrainian enterprises is under consideration. This will ensure a stable supply of drones for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
It is expected that about 2,000 interceptor drones will be produced monthly.
The device is designed to destroy enemy drones, including Shahed/Geranium-2 attack drones, which Russia is actively using to attack Ukrainian cities.
Militarnyi reported on the start of development of this system in early September this year.
The OCTOPUS project is the first joint defense project under the groundbreaking agreement between Ukraine and the United Kingdom on the exchange of military technology.
UK Defense Secretary Luke Pollard said that the country plans to implement other joint projects with Ukraine. In particular, it is about the production of glide bombs.
At the end of September, British Defense Secretary John Healey stated that OCTOPUS drones would become the basis of a European “drone wall.” Its purpose is to protect the borders of NATO allies from Russian drones.
This system is planned to be deployed along the borders of NATO member states to deter increasingly frequent attempts by Russian aircraft to infiltrate airspace.
In the future, OCTOPUS drones may become part of the defense system to protect military facilities and critical infrastructure not only in Ukraine but also in the UK and other NATO countries.
