DART

Ukraine's DART is a balloon-launched strike missile from the Center of Innovative Technologies Program, dropped from stratospheric aerostats at 12-18 km and built to defeat Russian electronic warfare by shutting off its own navigation for a fixed-course, solid-fuel terminal run.

Overview

DART is a small guided missile designed by the Ukrainian company Center of Innovative Technologies Program to be released from stratospheric balloons rather than fired from an aircraft or ground launcher. Militarnyi, which first reported the system on June 16, 2026, describes a 1.84-meter, 13-kilogram weapon that drops from an aerostat at 12-18 km altitude, flies on satellite navigation during its descent, then deliberately shuts that navigation down at roughly 6 km, lights a solid-fuel motor and runs a fixed course to the target. The design logic, as Defense News put it, is that once the navigation shuts off, Russian jammers cannot pull the missile off target — there is no signal left to attack.

The system matters for two reasons. First, it is a deliberate design answer to Russia's densest battlefield advantage, electronic warfare, achieved not by hardening a receiver but by removing it from the terminal phase entirely. Second, it rides an already-operational Ukrainian balloon campaign: Euromaidan Press reported in May 2026 that Ukraine had floated more than 1,000 balloons into Russia on the prevailing west-to-east winds for reconnaissance, decoy and strike missions. DART has not yet passed Ukrainian Ministry of Defense codification and has no documented combat use. It should not be confused with other DART-named systems — Leonardo's DART guided 76mm ammunition, Ukraine's Steel Hornets "Darts" FPV munition, or NATO's Steadfast Dart exercise are unrelated.

🔒 The full DART file is for BattlePolicy Pro members. Below the line: development history, design and capabilities, variants, the combat record, advantages and limitations, comparable systems, outlook, the full specifications table, our sourcing, and the analyst assessment — procurement, suppliers and the BattlePolicy verdict. Unlock the full file with BattlePolicy Pro →