They work like a shotgun: Ukraine began shooting down “Shaheeds” with Thales missiles

In the fight against the waves of “Shaheeds”, Europe is looking for cheap and effective solutions. One of them is already working on the front. The European group Thales says that it has created a compact anti-aircraft missile with a special FZ123 warhead and has begun supplying it to Ukraine.

This is stated in the material of Business Insider , which described in detail the design and testing of the new product.

The FZ123 warhead is filled with thousands of very small steel balls that fly apart when the nearly kilogram charge is detonated. According to the manufacturer, the cloud of debris creates a hit zone of up to about 25 meters in diameter, which is quite large enough to hit a small attack drone. The package works on the principle of a shotgun – in theory, bullets can hit a target at a greater distance. The maximum range of a shot with such a warhead reaches up to 3 km.

Thales Belgium’s Director of Vehicles and Tactical Systems, Thomas Colline, confirmed that the system is already being “deployed” in Ukraine, and added that demand exceeds the plant’s capabilities.

“The good news for us is that if they ask for more, it means they are satisfied,” said Coline, without specifying the volume of supplies.

The question of cost remained closed. A Thales representative refused to name the price per unit. He only noted that the new mini-missiles are more expensive than Ukrainian anti-aircraft drones, which are already used to intercept the Shaheds, but much cheaper than classic Western air defense systems.

The company adds that even the most expensive laser-guided variants typically cost about a fifth of the cost of a conventional anti-aircraft missile. For comparison, as Business Insider notes, basic missiles like the AIM-7 Sparrow cost about $125,000 each.

The combination of a large area of effect and a relatively low price makes the 70mm solution a useful addition to the arsenal, filling the gap between cheap drone interceptors and expensive conventional missiles. However, effectiveness will depend on the availability of launch vehicles, tactics of use, and battlefield conditions.

Recall that Russia is modernizing its strike drones and switching to jet-powered versions of the Shahed , which is a direct challenge for air defense. Although the new speed of the Russian devices initially caused concern, Ukrainian engineers have accelerated the pace of development and are scaling up production of FPV interceptors.

Earlier, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry published the contents of the Geran-3 jet drone . A 3D model and a list of components, from the engine to navigation systems, appeared on the War&Sanctions portal. It turned out that the device is built mainly from imported components (parts come from the USA, China and Europe), and its “heart” is the Chinese Telefly JT80 turbojet. It is thanks to this engine that the Geran-3 develops a speed of 300–370 km/h and has an approximate range of about 1,000 km.

As Defense Express experts previously reported, analysis of the remains of downed Geran-2 attack UAVs indicates that Russia is using new technological solutions on a mass scale. These include Chinese-made mesh modems and built-in course cameras , which are likely used to guide drones to the target in real time.