Over 15,000 "Shaheds" shot down in year: "Wild Hornets" releases Sting interceptor results
Drone Industry
The Sting interceptor drone, developed by Ukrainian miltech company Wild Hornets, has topped the ranking of the most effective interceptors of Russian Shahed, Geran and Gerbera drones for the twelfth consecutive month. According to confirmed data, Sting interceptors destroyed around 1,600 such targets in September alone, significantly outperforming other systems.
The company reported this to Censor.NET’s "Drone Industry" project.
"The introduction of remote control contributes to this high effectiveness: pilots from three of the four combat units with the highest numbers of Shahed kills operate Sting interceptors remotely using the innovative Hornet Vision Ctrl system," Wild Hornets said.
Sting also topped the ranking of interceptors of Russian jet-powered Shaheds in September. The company says the effectiveness of destroying such targets will increase significantly once mass production begins for the new dedicated high-speed Sting S interceptor. It is currently undergoing combat trials and is already destroying small Geran-5 missiles.
In total, over the year (from October 2025 to September 2026), units of Ukraine’s Defense Forces used Sting interceptors to shoot down more than 15,500 Russian Shahed, Geran, and Gerbera drones. These included more than 10,000 Shahed and Geran attack drones.
According to military intelligence data and Ukrainian analysts’ estimates, the average cost of one such Russian-made UAV could be around $70,000.
The use of Sting has therefore inflicted more than $700 million in losses on the enemy.
"However, the most important outcome of the interceptors’ work is the lives saved and the protection of Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, which is most frequently targeted by Russian aerial attacks," Wild Hornets stressed.
Ukrainian troops also use Sting to destroy other enemy attack and reconnaissance UAVs, but no separate statistics are kept on these.
About the company "Wild Hornets"
Wild Hornets is a Ukrainian MilTech company engaged in the development and production of unmanned systems.
Wild Hornets was among the pioneers of using FPV drones for combat purposes and developed Sting, the most effective high-speed interceptor drone for destroying enemy Shahed-type kamikaze drones. Its emergence effectively shaped the interceptor drone niche in Ukraine.
The company combines leadership in this category with an ecosystem of combat drones and innovative communication technologies that will allow pilots to control drones remotely.
Drones produced by Wild Hornets are now used by more than 100 units of Ukraine's Defense Forces: the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard, the Special Operations Forces, the Security Service of Ukraine, the Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate, the Air Force, and the State Border Guard Service.
