Defender Dynamics Developed a Series of Foton Drones With Automatic Target Destruction

Defender Dynamics has developed a series of Foton drones with frames ranging from 7 to 11.2 inches. They can destroy enemy drones in automatic mode.

This was reported to Militarnyi by the company.

The 7-inch drones are equipped with one to two barrels, with a maximum of six barrels. The number depends on the characteristics of the carrier.

“Six barrels mean six shots. The weight of one barrel when loaded is 500 grams. That is, whatever the drone can lift, you can make a suspension for. The drone can fire from all barrels simultaneously or in turn,” said Yevgen Kilenko, director of Defender Dynamics, to Militarnyi.

The barrels and software are the company’s own design. The drone uses an aluminum frame manufactured in Ukraine. Other components are also sourced from Ukrainian manufacturers as much as possible.

Automatic firing

Foton drones can hit targets automatically. The drone captures the target and uses lidar to calculate the distance to it.

“Currently, the pilot launches the drone and flies it to the area where the enemy target is located. Once it reaches the zone, the pilot can switch to ‘kill’ mode on the remote control, and the drone automatically searches for a target to destroy. As soon as it finds it, it locks onto the target and moves toward it. When the lidar allows a shot to be fired, it happens automatically,” explained Yevgen Kilenko.

The shot can also be fired manually by the operator, but automatic operation is preferred, for example, for night hunting of enemy scouts.

The drone can work with digital, analog, thermal, and twilight cameras. The strike zone is up to 5 meters, with a minimum strike zone of 0.5 meters.

Foton fires 12-gauge ammunition, which can be buckshot or canister shot. According to the company’s director, other ammunition can also be used depending on the needs of those who will be using it.

“Any ammunition can be used. We use titanium barrels, so they are quite durable and lightweight,” he said.

The development is currently being finalized, flight tests have already been completed, and tests have also been conducted on 10-inch FPV drones.

The main targets for a fighter such as Foton are enemy FPV drones, reconnaissance drones such as Mavic, Matrice, and Autel.

The next step for the company is to combine the body and software with an aircraft-type UAV to hunt enemy reconnaissance drones such as Zala, Orlan, SuperCam, etc.

The company is currently preparing several aircraft for defense forces units for direct combat use.

As a reminder, the Ukrainian company MaXon, a participant in Brave1, created an air-to-air air defense system equipped with high-speed interceptors.

The system is based on interceptor drones launched from an air carrier.

An optical station with a thermal imaging channel is used to detect and target the enemy.