The Russian Kalashnikov Concern has publicly unveiled for the first time the Zveroboy air defense complex, developed to protect facilities from Ukrainian drones. The presentation took place at the IV All-Russian Armed Forces Forum in Moscow, as reported on September 15, 2026 by RBC-Ukraine, Argumenty Nedeli, Novye Izvestia, and Monocle, citing a statement from the concern itself. According to the manufacturer, the system is designed for around-the-clock protection of critical facilities from reconnaissance and strike UAVs, including the types used by Ukraine — Leleka, Lyutyi, Bober, and Hornet-XR.
What is Zveroboy and how it is built
The complex includes an automated workstation for the ground control station, an optical target designation system, three launch containers, a digital relay, a technical compartment with a distribution board and switching unit, as well as a radar system. The manufacturer offers two configurations: a stationary version for long-term perimeter protection of critical infrastructure, and a mobile version mounted on the chassis of a production pickup truck, which, according to the concern, speeds up redeployment and makes the position harder to detect. It was the mobile pickup-mounted version that was shown at the forum.
Kraken as the main weapon
The main weapon of Zveroboy is the high-speed Kraken interceptor — multirotor FPV drones with a specialized warhead, three units in each launch container. A Kraken-N modification equipped with a thermal imaging camera is available for night operations. Thus, the system's concept is built on the "drone versus drone" principle: physically destroying the target with another unmanned vehicle rather than with traditional anti-aircraft fire.
Layered defense and Kalitka-KA
The concern states that Zveroboy fits into a broader strategy of layered drone defense, which Kalashnikov is developing using its own various means of drone detection, suppression, and physical destruction at different ranges. The system can also be integrated with existing perimeter surveillance and security complexes. In parallel with Zveroboy, the forum also featured another anti-drone complex from the concern — Kalitka-KA, armed with a machine gun turret.
Context: Ukrainian interceptors and expert skepticism
The presentation comes against the backdrop of Ukraine's active development of its own interception means. In August 2026, the Ukrainian Armed Forces received the first Ukrainian jet-powered drone interceptor, the Alexa Spatium, which, according to the Ministry of Defense, is capable of shooting down jet-powered Shaheds, reconnaissance UAVs, and even helicopters. At the same time, in September, Tymofiy Yurkov of Contra-Drone pointed out that physically intercepting jet-powered Shaheds remains a difficult task due to the high speed of such targets.
Contradictory data
It is important here to honestly lay out two perspectives. On the one hand, the Kalashnikov Concern confidently claims the ability to provide around-the-clock protection against a list of Ukrainian UAVs and to integrate Zveroboy into a layered defense system. On the other hand, independent experts point to objective physical limitations: intercepting high-speed targets, particularly jet-powered ones, with a multirotor FPV drone is an extremely difficult task, and there are currently no publicly confirmed combat results of Zveroboy in operation. Moreover, in the original source, the possibility of around-the-clock protection against the specified drone types is presented with the qualifier "allegedly," i.e., as a manufacturer's claim rather than a verified fact. Thus, the fact of the complex's presentation is confirmed by several sources, while its combat characteristics remain at the level of the concern's marketing claims.
