Created for Ukraine: Wolf 25 AD Anti-Aircraft System Undergoes Firing Tests

The Slovak company Deftech has released footage of intercepting drones with its latest anti-aircraft artillery system Wolf 25 AD, which was developed by order of Ukraine.

The test footage was published by the Praise the steph blog in partnership with the manufacturer.

The Wolf 25 AD anti-aircraft system, developed by order of the Ukrainian side, was fired at the Zagorje training ground in Slovakia in the spring, where it proved its anti-UAV performance.

In the footage released, a small drone hovering at a distance of 400 meters was the target of the combat vehicle, which is equipped with an anti-aircraft module with a 25-mm cannon. It was hit by a short burst of seven training rounds – even without the use of specialized “anti-aircraft” ammunition with a programmable detonation.

The author of the blog confirmed earlier statements by the developers that two vehicles are already in Ukraine and are undergoing local testing. Upon their completion, DefTech expects to place an order and launch mass production.

The number of potential orders has not been disclosed, but according to journalists from the debut show at IDET, it is about hundreds of units.

Anti-aircraft potential of Wolf 25 AD

The system is equipped with a state-of-the-art turret mount from the Slovenian company Valhalla Turrets. It is equipped with a 25×137 mm Oerlikon KBA automatic gun, which allows the use of two types of ammunition and has several firing modes – from single shots to bursts with a rate of fire of 650 rounds per minute.

Proximity Fuze (PX-HE) ammunition is available to engage air targets, with a remote detonation within a radius of 1.5 meters from the target. As a second type, the gun can use high-explosive incendiary rounds with a tracer (HEI-T), semi-armor-piercing high-explosive rounds (SAPHE), fragmentation-armor-piercing sub-caliber rounds (FAPDS-T) or armor-piercing feathered sub-caliber rounds, depending on the mission profile.

The importance of armor-piercing ammunition should not be underestimated – sub-caliber rounds have extremely high velocity and a decked trajectory, which is an important parameter when firing at distant targets with high lateral velocity. In addition, fragmentation shells may not cause sufficient damage, while armor-piercing shells will leave through penetrating damage.

The choice of the gun caliber was also made for a reason: the effectiveness of 25×137 mm is very close to the larger 30×173 mm caliber, but the ammunition is lighter, cheaper, and has a larger capacity. They are more accessible both in terms of the number of manufacturers and the actual production volume, the developers say.

The turret is equipped with the Lotus Lite electro-optical system with thermal and daytime cameras. However, the heart of the entire system is the AESA AMMR radars with software-defined functionality that can simultaneously track up to 150 targets in real time. These radars are capable of detecting targets at a distance:

• fighters – up to 20 km,
• helicopters – up to 12 km,
• missiles – up to 10 km,
• Lancet drones – up to 8-10 km,
• reconnaissance drones – up to 5 km,
• microdrones (FPV or commercial quadcopter type) – up to 5 km.

Such radars are also used in Skynex, Skyranger 35 and Skyranger 30 systems. The vehicle has 4 panels that provide a 360-degree view. With the help of AMMR, the system can also calculate the coordinates of hits by enemy artillery, mortars and missiles.

The radars are equipped with one of the most advanced ECCM systems for countering electronic warfare, which allows the Wolf 25 AD to operate effectively in areas with a strong influence of electronic warfare. They also have the ability to search for targets in motion, which allows the vehicle to provide air cover for convoys of vehicles on the move.