ALITA

ALITA is an automated counter-UAV interceptor developed by Aero Center with Dwarf Engineering, purpose-built to hunt Iranian-designed Shahed-136 loitering munitions — the one-way attack drones that Russia rebrands as the Geran-2 and launches nightly across Ukrainian cities. Aero Center, previously known for strike drones and their munitions, positions ALITA as its move into the defensive counter-drone segment, an area Ukraine has been forced to industrialise at speed as Shahed volumes climbed through 2025 into 2026.

The system is described by its makers as a full engagement package rather than a single airframe. Automated multi-pad launch arrays hold interceptors ready to fire on cue, cutting the reaction time and operator headcount that a manned launch would demand — a design choice shaped by how thinly Ukrainian air-defence teams are spread across the country’s Shahed corridors. Once airborne, the interceptor is claimed to reach roughly 450 km/h and to run autonomous terminal guidance into the target, meaning the human role ends before the endgame. The manufacturer has not publicly detailed the seeker, flight controller or onboard compute used to close the loop, and independent teardown reporting has yet to appear.

Ukraine is the sole announced operator. The problem ALITA is aimed at is measurable: Russian strike waves now reach into the hundreds of Shaheds per night, and cannon-based air defence has proven expensive per kill while ground-based machine-gun teams cannot cover every axis. A dedicated drone-on-drone interceptor priced closer to the target it kills is the economic case the wider Ukrainian interceptor cohort — including systems from Wild Hornets and other domestic makers — has been organised around. Where ALITA sits inside that cohort in terms of unit cost, production rate, and confirmed kills has not been disclosed.

Combat performance is not yet publicly established. The specification sheet is the manufacturer’s, not an independent one, and neither the state-backed Brave1 defence-tech cluster nor open-source monitors have published intercept counts attributable to ALITA at time of writing. What is clear is the shape of the product: a system designed to move counter-Shahed work from human triggers to automated ones, at speeds high enough to catch the slow, low-flying munitions that have defined Russia’s long-range strike campaign since 2023.