Saab develops drone-killing missile in scramble for low-cost counters

PARIS — Saab has announced a low-cost anti-drone missile dubbed Nimbrix, the latest effort in a scramble by defense firms and armed forces globally to develop hard-kill counters for the small flying drones that have become the main lethal threat on the battlefield in Ukraine.

The Swedish company is in discussions with customers and aims for the first deliveries of the missile to counter unmanned aerial systems in 2026, it said in a statement on Thursday. Saab plans to present the fire-and-forget missile at the DSEI UK show in London in September.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine kicked off a drone-innovation race, with both sides now deploying thousands of drones daily that often cost less than US$1,000 each. In response, companies and armed forces are racing to field cost-effective counter measures, from unguided rockets with fragmentation warheads to lasers, air-burst shells and radio-frequency weapons.

“Nimbrix is our answer to the unmanned aerial threats which have escalated in the last few years,” Stefan Öberg, head of Saab’s missile-systems business, said in the statement. “It is cost effective which is critical given the proliferation of UASs on the battlefield.”

Saab designed the missile to minimize costs, including through the use of additive manufacturing and low-cost commercial and military off-the-shelf parts, according to a presentation sheet.

The missile being developed will include an infrared target seeker as well as a high-explosive fragmentation warhead that can be used in air-burst mode against drone swarms, with the goal for a range of up to 5 kilometers with an active seeker for target tracking.

Drone swarms are an evolution of the UAS threat, with both Ukrainian and Russian forces increasingly deploying massed waves of drones to overwhelm enemy defenses. France’s Thales at the Eurosatory show in Paris last year presented an unguided rocket with air-burst warhead specifically designed to defeat swarms.

The ground-based Nimbrix missile can be operated in a stand-alone system with an affordable sensor, including mounted on a vehicle or in a fixed configuration, or as part of a larger air-defense system with existing command and control and sensors, according to Saab.

Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.

巴黎——萨博公司宣布推出一款名为“Nimbrix”的低成本反无人机导弹，这是全球国防公司和武装部队竞相开发针对小型飞行无人机的硬杀伤反制武器的最新举措，这些小型飞行无人机已成为乌克兰战场上的主要致命威胁。

瑞典萨博公司周四在一份声明中表示，该公司正在与客户洽谈，目标是在2026年交付首批用于对抗无人机系统的导弹。萨博计划在9月于伦敦举行的英国防务展（DSEI UK）上展示这款发射后不管的导弹。

俄罗斯入侵乌克兰引发了一场无人机创新竞赛，双方目前每天都在部署数千架无人机，而每架无人机的成本通常不到1000美元。为了应对这一局面，各公司和军队都在竞相部署经济高效的反制措施，从配备破片弹头的非制导火箭到激光武器、空爆弹和射频武器，不一而足。

萨博导弹系统业务负责人斯特凡·厄贝里在声明中表示：“Nimbrix是我们应对近年来日益严峻的无人机威胁的方案。鉴于战场上无人机系统的扩散，其成本效益至关重要。”

根据一份演示文稿，萨博公司在设计这款导弹时尽量降低成本，包括采用增材制造技术以及低成本的商用和军用现成零件。

正在研发的导弹将包括红外目标导引头和高爆破片战斗部，可用于空爆模式打击无人机群，目标是射程达到 5 公里，并配备主动导引头进行目标跟踪。

无人机群是无人机系统威胁的演变，乌克兰和俄罗斯军队都越来越多地部署大规模无人机浪潮来压制敌方防御。法国泰雷兹公司去年在巴黎举行的欧洲防务展上展示了一种专门用于对抗无人机群的无制导火箭，该火箭配备空爆弹头。

据萨博公司称，陆基 Nimbrix 导弹可以作为独立系统运行，配备价格适中的传感器，包括安装在车辆上或固定配置中；也可以作为更大的防空系统的一部分，配备现有的指挥控制和传感器。

鲁迪·鲁伊滕贝格是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者。他的职业生涯始于彭博新闻社，拥有报道科技、大宗商品市场和政治方面的经验。