Ukraine has built an interceptor that catches Russian drones instead of ramming them. The company WINFLY has unveiled the WINFLY Spider, an interceptor equipped with a net-launcher to neutralize targets with a net and return to its launch point, the defense outlet Militarnyi reported.

The Spider is the newest entry in Ukraine's fast-growing interceptor-drone industry. Ukraine has fielded a widening range of cheap interceptors to counter Russia's massed drone attacks, and the Spider's distinction is reusability.

The netgun makes it reusable

Most interceptors are one-shot weapons that ram or explode against their target. The Spider instead carries the Karakurt net-launcher, made of high-strength aluminum and rated to work from −20°C to +50°C, which snares an enemy drone in a net while the interceptor itself stays intact and ready for repeat flights.

The economics are the point. The developers say each net shot about $27, while the drone remains undamaged. That turns the cost equation of drone defense, where an interceptor is often spent to down a single target, into one where the same aircraft can make many intercepts, paying only for a cheap net each time.

The platform and what it hunts

The Spider is built on an existing WINFLY interceptor. It uses the WINFLY 10 Hunter as its base platform, which operates at up to 5,000 meters, reaches 160 kilometers per hour, and has a range of over 18 kilometers.

It is designed for a range of Russian drones. The system targets fixed-wing UAVs, Mavic quadcopters, FPV drones, and fiber-optic drones, with flight times up to 25 minutes, deployment times of up to 3 minutes, and target detection ranges of up to 500 meters. The maker offers day and night versions.

One tool in a scaling defense

Ukraine is downing tens of thousands of Russian drones a month, per the Defense Ministry, and fielding interceptors from at least 29 licensed makers, with new designs like the high-altitude Tsyklop climbing above enemy drones and others ramming them.