During the Defense Tech Innovations Forum 2025 in Kyiv, for the first time since 2023, when Western media showed their production, the Trembita cruise missile was presented.
The Trembita was created in the PARS volunteer design bureau with the participation of volunteers of the Vidsich (it stands for Repulse in Ukrainian) nongovernmental organization. This missile exists in two versions: a strike missile with a thermobaric or high-explosive fragmentation warhead, as well as a decoy missile designed to exhaust russian air defenses.
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The main feature of the Trembita cruise missile is its cost - it is much cheaper than any anti-aircraft missile that purpoused to withstand it.
In the decoy or false target version, it costs about $4,000. In turn, the strike version of this missile costs about $14,000, due to the installation of a warhead and the use of more expensive electronics to increase accuracy.
The Trembita cruise missile weighs about 100 kilograms, and has a thermobaric or high-explosive fragmentation warhead weighing from 20 to 30 kg, depending on the flight range. The missile can reach speeds of more than 400 km/h.
The Trembita is propelled by a pulsejet engine, which significantly reduces the cost of producing the missile. This engine does not contain complex elements, which significantly speeds up production.
Currently, pulsejet engines are rarely used due to the technical features of this design. In particular, such an engine heats up a lot, which makes such a missile an easy target for anti-aircraft missiles with an IR homing head. In addition, missiles with such an engine create a lot of noise, which makes them easier to detect.
Usually, the above factors are a minus for cruise missiles, but not in the case of the Trembita missile – it was specially designed to be a 'sacrifice' for for anti-aircraft missiles to exhoust air defenses, whilest its sound terrifyes people when it flies past.
The Trembita cruise missile is launched from a catapult mounted on the ground or on a car trailer. The missile is launched using a solid-fuel booster. The main jet engine starts working on the ground, before launch.
The low price and ease of production make it possible to produce the Trembita cruise missiles in significant quantities, which makes it possible to oversaturate the russian air defense system and allow other means of destruction (strike UAVs, cruise missiles, etc.) to overcome the protection zones of objects and hit important enemy targets.
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