German UAV developer Quantum Systems, known for its reconnaissance Vector drones widely used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces and for having production in Ukraine, unveiled its new anti-air drone, Jäger.
At first glance Jäger looks like a conventional rocket-shaped solution with X-shaped wings and electric motor gondolas.
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But that impression changes once you see how it approaches a target. After climbing to 100 meters, a solid-fuel motor ignites and boosts it to a much greater altitude.
This nontrivial design lets Jäger climb to 4 km in just 30 seconds, after which it switches to pure electric propulsion. According to Quantum Systems' comments to Hartpunkt, Jäger's service ceiling is up to 5 km, its range up to 25 km, and its top speed reaches 405 km/h.
From Defense Express's perspective, using a solid-rocket booster to loft the drone to 4 km solves the reaction-time problem and provides a large energy reserve that can be converted into loiter time.
The drone's takeoff weight is 2.5 kg, of which 0.8 kg is listed as payload. This is curious because the company says Jäger is intended to destroy targets by ramming rather than by an explosive warhead, though fitting a warhead is not excluded.
On guidance, a jamming-resistant data link has already been tested, and work continues on a fully autonomous seeker allowing the drone to home on targets without operator input.
Quantum Systems says the first development phase of Jäger is complete and further work will proceed according to customer requirements. The company states the price will be in the four-figure euro range up to €10,000.
Introduction into service could happen as early as the end of the year, meaning this is a near-ready solution that will be refined over time based on operational experience.
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