Ukraine's DART rides the wind into Russia, built to fly through jamming
A Ukrainian startup's balloon-launched missile turns off its own navigation to beat Russian jammers, and the balloons themselves drain million-dollar interceptors.
A Ukrainian startup's balloon-launched missile turns off its own navigation to beat Russian jammers, and the balloons themselves drain million-dollar interceptors.
A Ukrainian company, the Center of Innovative Technologies Program, is developing a balloon-launched missile called DART, Defense News reported on June 25. It is built to keep flying through Russian jamming. The developers told the outlet that DART drops from a balloon at roughly 7 to 11 miles and rides satellite guidance down to about 4 miles. There the navigation cuts out, a solid-fuel motor lights, and the missile runs a fixed course to the target. With nothing left to interfere with, Russian electronic warfare cannot steer it off line.
The missile runs 1.84 meters and about 13 kilograms, Militarnyi reported on June 16 and United24 Media relayed the same day. Its warhead, 3.5 to 10 kilograms depending on configuration, scatters conductive graphite filaments meant to short out power grids, per Militarnyi. DART has not yet cleared Ukrainian military codification, and the design team says it plans ballistic and surface-to-air variants.
The balloon carrier is what makes the system cheap. Ukraine has floated more than 1,000 balloons into Russia on the prevailing west-to-east winds, retired Col. Viktor Kevliuk of the Center for Defense Strategies told Euromaidan Press in May. Some have drifted as far as Moscow, where air defenses tracked them at about 6 miles during a September strike, according to Defense News. The balloons are translucent and hard to shoot down at altitude, and one source told Euromaidan Press that being detected is the point: a balloon costing about $200 can draw an S-300 or S-400 battery into firing a million-dollar interceptor.
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Subscribe Free →Russia can less afford that trade than it once could. Three Ukrainian officials told CBS News in June that Moscow is depleting its S-300 interceptor stocks at a rate the Foreign Policy Research Institute's Rob Lee called unsustainable, with sanctions choking the seekers and control modules needed to rebuild them. DART adds a deep-strike weapon to a campaign President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pushed past 600 miles into Russia, which he calls Ukraine's "long-range sanctions," Defense News reported. Codification is the next gate: clearing it would turn a decoy fleet into a launch platform.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is DART?
DART is a missile launched from a stratospheric balloon, built by the Ukrainian company Center of Innovative Technologies Program, Defense News reported. It is designed to keep flying through Russian electronic warfare.
How does DART beat jamming?
It uses satellite guidance during its descent, then cuts navigation at about 4 miles and lights a solid-fuel motor that carries it to the target on a fixed course, per Defense News. With no signal to interfere with, Russian jammers cannot steer it off target.
Why use balloons at all?
The balloons are cheap, quiet and hard to detect, and the prevailing west-to-east winds carry them into Russia without an engine, Euromaidan Press reported. They can also bait Russian air defenses into firing expensive interceptors.
How does that drain Russian air defenses?
A balloon costing about $200 can provoke an S-300 or S-400 battery into firing a million-dollar interceptor, according to Defense News. Three Ukrainian officials told CBS News that Russia is depleting its S-300 interceptor stocks at an unsustainable rate.
Is DART fielded yet?
Not yet. Defense News and Militarnyi report DART has not cleared Ukrainian military codification. The developers say they plan to adapt the design into ballistic and surface-to-air variants.
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Marcus Schuler
Marcus Schuler edits BattlePolicy, a daily defense-technology brief connecting the companies and capabilities behind modern war to the contest among Europe, the US, Russia, and China.