Lithuania Presents X-WING Loitering Munition With Vertical Takeoff and 50 km Range

Lithuanian drone manufacturer Granta Autonomy has developed and presented a new X-WING loitering munition with a vertical takeoff and a range of up to 50 km.

The company’s press service reported this to Militarnyi.

The 12-kilogram drone with a modular design is designed to work in conjunction with the Hornet XR reconnaissance drone and provide high-precision strikes on important targets.

The X-WING uses artificial intelligence (AI) to fly autonomously even when GNSS or GPS signals are unavailable.

It is equipped with a microgimbal manufactured by the same company, featuring a powerful daytime camera that detects and captures objects at long distances, as well as a thermal imager for night operations.

Granta Autonomy’s Datalink solution is said to be compatible with most ground control station software, and the artificial intelligence-based targeting system can help guide the UAV to highly camouflaged targets.

The X-WING carries a 4-kilogram multi-purpose warhead that can penetrate heavily armored vehicles while producing large amounts of fragments, making the drone effective against less armored targets such as radars and anti-aircraft systems.

“X-WING is a direct result of our battlefield-proven philosophy. We have taken the lessons learned from delivering thousands of drones to the front line in Ukraine and used this invaluable experience to create a similar system for our Hornet XR reconnaissance drone, which is ideally suited for modern warfare,” Gediminas Guoba, CEO and founder of Granta Autonomy, stated.

“The X-WING’s fixed-wing design with vertical takeoff and landing gives it the tactical flexibility required by ground forces. The loitering munition is designed for large-scale production – “thousands per month”.

Founded in 2015, Granta Autonomy specializes in unmanned aerial systems and related technologies. It supplies FPV and reconnaissance drones to Ukraine.

The company says that its engineers and the Ukrainian military units that operate its drones regularly test them together on the front lines.

Today, Granta Autonomy supplies its UAVs to customers across Europe, and also provides its proprietary Datalink solution and reconnaissance gimbals to a number of partners.