Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense has signed an agreement with its British counterpart to ramp up production of a new Ukrainian-made interceptor drone known as Octopus. According to the plan, manufacturing is expected to scale to several thousand units per month.

Military analyst Anatoly Matviychuk told Life.ru that Kyiv is presenting the Octopus system as a dedicated tool for hunting down Russian UAVs, with a particular emphasis on countering the Geran, which remains one of the most troublesome threats for Ukrainian forces.

At the same time, he pointed out that the drone’s specifications have not been disclosed and its performance has not been proven in real combat. Matviychuk suggested that the project may also serve as another financial opportunity for London, noting that the UK has pursued similar initiatives before.

Even if the new drones do reach frontline units, Russia, he argued, already has multiple ways to neutralize them. The expert noted that Moscow can deploy its own interceptor-type UAVs currently in service. In addition, Russian forces possess portable air-defense systems such as Strela and Verba, as well as Pantsir complexes.

Matviychuk emphasized that Russia has enough assets to bring down any new drone introduced to the battlefield and forecast that the arrival of Octopus would not fundamentally change the situation.