Russians Boasted About the "Zveroboy" Air Defense System: Which Ukrainian Drones the Enemy Wants to Shoot Down

The Russian concern Kalashnikov publicly showcased the Zveroboy air defense complex for protecting facilities from Ukrainian UAVs for the first time. The main weapons of the system are the fast FPV interceptor drones called Kraken.

How the Zveroboy system is arranged The installation was shown for the first time at the IV All-Russian Arms Forum in Moscow. According to the concern, Zveroboy is allegedly intended for round-the-clock protection of important facilities from reconnaissance and strike drones, in particular those types used by Ukraine — Leleka, Lyutyy, Bobr, and Hornet-XR. The complex comprises an automated work station of the ground control station, an optical targeting system, three launch containers, a digital repeater, a technical compartment with a distribution panel and a switching block, and also a radar system. Photo: Zveroboy without a pickup (Kalashnikov Concern) The manufacturer offers two configurations — stationary, for long-term perimeter protection of critical infrastructure, and mobile, mounted on the chassis of a serial pickup truck, which speeds up deployment and complicates position detection. What Zveroboy is armed with The armament of the complex consists of fast interceptors Kraken — multirotor FPV drones with a special warhead, three units in each launch container. For night operation, there is a Kraken-N modification with a thermal imaging camera. The concern states that Zveroboy fits into the overall strategy of layered protection against drones, which Kalashnikov is developing using various in-house means of detection, suppression, and physical destruction of drones at different ranges, and it can also be integrated with existing perimeter surveillance and security systems. Along with Zveroboy, the forum also showcased another Kalashnikov anti-drone complex — Kalitka-KA — armed with a machine-gun turret. See also: Ukrainian drones hit the Russian radar station at 100 million dollars from the front at 175 kilometers.

In August, the Ukrainian Armed Forces received the first Ukrainian reactive drone interceptor Alexa Spatium, which, according to the Ministry of Defense, is capable of shooting down reactive Shahed-type drones, reconnaissance UAVs, and even helicopters. At the same time, in September, Tymofiy Yurkiv from Contra-Drone noted that physically intercepting reactive Shaheds remains a difficult task due to the high speed of such targets.