Ukrainian Defense Forces to Receive 8,000 Octopus Interceptor Drones

The Ukrainian Defense Forces will receive 8,000 Octopus-100 interceptors to strengthen air defense and increase the number of aerial targets shot down.

This was announced by Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.

Octopus was developed by the Armed Forces of Ukraine and uses an automatic guidance system to intercept Shahed-type attack drones.

The interceptor’s production cycle currently involves 29 Ukrainian licensed companies and the British government. Four domestic enterprises have already signed government contracts to supply these drones to the military.

The project became possible following the adoption of a government decision to transfer military technologies to Ukrainian manufacturers while retaining intellectual property rights.

It is currently known that licenses have been granted to TAF Industries and the manufacturer of electronic warfare equipment UNWAVE.

According to the executive director of TAF Industries, one of the main obstacles to scaling up production was the presence of several critical components in the product. These parts were in short supply, making it impossible to rapidly increase production rates.

Therefore, through a joint effort between the developers and the manufacturer, work was carried out to find replacements for the scarce components.

The Octopus was unveiled for the first time in October 2025 during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to the United Kingdom.

It is expected that the United Kingdom will also manufacture approximately 2,000 interceptor drones each month.

The interceptor became the first joint defense project under the agreement between Ukraine and the United Kingdom on the exchange of military technologies.

Later, in January 2026, the first tests of this aircraft took place.