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Air · Coverage audit

Central & eastern Europe defence drone coverage audit

8 original research topics reviewed: 2 resolved, 6 partially resolved and 0 still open. The remaining register identifies specific evidence needs.

Scope and evidence

This audit covers the original research register for Central & eastern Europe defence drone coverage audit. The review below records work completed on 21 September 2026. Resolved means the named research task was addressed, not that every national programme or undisclosed capability is catalogued. Partially resolved topics now have published evidence but retain a narrower question.

Poland — Resolved

GLADIUS 2 / WARMATE 30. Replaced secondary-only uncertainty with WB Group’s 8 September 2026 release confirming the named design and Polish order. Added WARMATE 30/GLADIUS 2 and separately announced WARMATE 8X; no older-family range figures were inherited.

Czech Republic — Resolved

Primoco One 150. Added One 150 using 2026 corporate reporting and the 2025 certification release. Separated sales from deliveries, flight distance from datalink reach, and present surveillance configuration from proposed integrations.

Greece — Partially resolved

LOTUS. Added a LOTUS development profile using the exchange-filed certification-process release and the manufacturer’s 2025 presentation. No primary completion certificate, first-flight milestone or accepted fleet was established.

Latvia — Partially resolved

Penguin C Mk2 / Mk2X conventional-launch family. Added the conventional Penguin C Mk2 with current filing figures and its own customer history. A Mk2X-specific technical baseline is still needed before suffix-level specifications can be merged.

Serbia — Partially resolved

Vrabac and IKA-20. Added Vrabac and IKA-20 using official military descriptions and PR-DC’s family page. Versioned mass/endurance tables, Vrabac producer responsibilities and current acceptance quantities remain unresolved.

Estonia — Partially resolved

EOS C VTOL operator and configuration register. Deepened EOS C with a named Dutch Army operator, mass and overall dimensions from the May 2025 Defence account. The complete operator register and reconciliation of operator-specific versus current manufacturer figures remain open.

Ukraine — Partially resolved

New adoptions, small manufacturers and field variants. Added TALION, Tsyklop, Dovbush T40 and F-Drones LITAVR from June–August 2026 MoD records. The profiles distinguish authorisation-only evidence from explicitly reported delivery/use and retain undisclosed makers as unknown.

Russia — Partially resolved

Variant identities, current production and reported projects. Added Kalashnikov Karakurt and Goliath families from 2024 military-trial and 2025–September 2026 exhibition sources. Current marketing identity is documented, but suffix variants and claimed newer generations do not inherit an unsourced common specification table.

Open research register

These are editorial research tasks, not confirmed capabilities. Remove or revise each row when the evidence has been published.

Greece · Air · High priority

LOTUS first-flight and completed certification evidence

Added a LOTUS development profile using the exchange-filed certification-process release and the manufacturer’s 2025 presentation. No primary completion certificate, first-flight milestone or accepted fleet was established.

Research starting point ↗

Latvia · Air · Medium priority

Penguin C Mk2X versioned specification baseline

Added the conventional Penguin C Mk2 with current filing figures and its own customer history. A Mk2X-specific technical baseline is still needed before suffix-level specifications can be merged.

Research starting point ↗

Serbia · Air · High priority

Serbian small-aircraft specifications and acceptance quantities

Added Vrabac and IKA-20 using official military descriptions and PR-DC’s family page. Versioned mass/endurance tables, Vrabac producer responsibilities and current acceptance quantities remain unresolved.

Research starting point ↗

Estonia · Air · Medium priority

EOS C complete operator and version register

Deepened EOS C with a named Dutch Army operator, mass and overall dimensions from the May 2025 Defence account. The complete operator register and reconciliation of operator-specific versus current manufacturer figures remain open.

Research starting point ↗

Ukraine · Air · High priority

Remaining Ukrainian adoptions and unidentified manufacturers

Identify TALION, Tsyklop and Dovbush T40 makers through primary disclosures; obtain configuration and delivery evidence rather than filling gaps from similarly named products. Continue later official adoptions, reusable derivatives, generic FPV names and smaller developers; the large codification total is not a public named census.

Research starting point ↗

Russia · Air · High priority

Russian small-aircraft configurations, cargo/interceptors and current delivery evidence

Recover original Kalashnikov product sheets for Karakurt/Goliath suffix and 2.0 configurations; the direct product endpoint returned 403 in this review. Verify named military acceptance and distinguish civil export orders. Cargo, interceptor and locally renamed families beyond this batch remain priorities.

Research starting point ↗

View the global coverage register →

Publication history

  • — Reviewed every original topic; published supported additions and replaced broad gaps with the remaining evidence questions.
  • — Published a regional country review and editable register of remaining research gaps.

Suggest a correction to this entry →

Follow the evidence

Source types identify who makes the claim. Programme milestones and supplier statements should be read in context.

  1. Intracom exchange-filed LOTUS certification-process announcement, 30 January 2023 (opens in a new tab)Company regulatory announcement
  2. UAV Factory / Redwire Penguin C Mk2 validation and delivery release, 4 November 2020 (opens in a new tab)Manufacturer
  3. Serbian Ministry of Defence IKA-20 description (opens in a new tab)Government / operator
  4. Dutch Defence EOS C operator account, 20 May 2025 (opens in a new tab)Government / operator
  5. Ukraine MoD: TALION authorisation, 30 June 2026 (opens in a new tab)Government
  6. Rostec: Karakurt and Legioner trials, 17 September 2024 (opens in a new tab)Manufacturer
  7. GLADIUS 2 / WARMATE 30 — research starting point (opens in a new tab)Research lead; see audit qualification
  8. Primoco One 150 — research starting point (opens in a new tab)Research lead; see audit qualification
  9. LOTUS — research starting point (opens in a new tab)Research lead; see audit qualification
  10. Penguin C Mk2 / Mk2X conventional-launch family — research starting point (opens in a new tab)Research lead; see audit qualification
  11. EOS C VTOL operator and configuration register — research starting point (opens in a new tab)Research lead; see audit qualification

Explore the connections

Air · Loitering munitionPoland

WARMATE 30 / GLADIUS 2

Turbojet-powered Polish flying-wing aircraft unveiled in September 2026 with a manufacturer-confirmed national order.

Order / production commitmentRead
Air · Loitering munitionPoland

Concept / announced

WARMATE 8X

Separate WARMATE design unveiled at MSPO 2026, with limited public flight-performance information.

Concept / announcedRead
Air · Reconnaissance aircraftCzech Republic

Primoco One 150

Czech surveillance aircraft with current production reporting, military certification and a published payload-range baseline.

Supplier-reported statusRead
Air · Reconnaissance aircraftGreece

LOTUS

Greek-led tactical reconnaissance programme with a documented certification initiative and continuing manufacturer presentation.

Development / trialsRead
Air · Reconnaissance aircraftSerbia

Vrabac

Serbian short-range day/night reconnaissance aircraft identified in official military equipment material.

Supplier-reported statusRead
Air · Multirole aircraftSerbia

IKA-20

Serbian six-rotor defence aircraft with official manufacturer attribution and a broader family of mission configurations.

Supplier-reported statusRead
Air · Interceptor aircraftUkraine

TALION interceptor

Ukrainian dual-role interceptor authorised in June 2026; delivery quantities and detailed performance remain undisclosed.

See profileRead
Air · Interceptor aircraftUkraine

Tsyklop interceptor family

Ukrainian interceptor family with MoD-reported field use and a July 2026 codification announcement.

In service / use documentedRead
Air · Multirole aircraftUkraine

Dovbush T40

Ukrainian long-range aircraft codified in August 2026, with reconnaissance and strike configurations described by the MoD.

See profileRead
Air · Interceptor aircraftUkraine

LITAVR

F-Drones interceptor with Ukrainian MoD-documented production and military deliveries, plus day and thermal imaging.

In service / use documentedRead
Air · Reconnaissance aircraftRussia

Kalashnikov Karakurt family

Compact Russian reconnaissance drone with manufacturer-reported military trials and later Karakurt-R exhibition variants.

Development / trialsRead
Air · Reconnaissance aircraftRussia

Kalashnikov Goliath family

Russian compact copter family marketed for reconnaissance, including the Goliath-RU designation shown in September 2026.

Supplier-reported statusRead
Editorial review

September 2026 global coverage review

Reviewed all 90 original research topics: 6 resolved, 80 partially resolved and 4 still open. Added 192 sourced system and family profiles across air, land and maritime domains.

Reviewed 21 Sept 2026Read
Air · Drone / systemPoland / Ukraine

FLYEYE

Polish electric reconnaissance aircraft with established Polish and Ukrainian use and Ukrainian production reported in 2025.

In service / use documentedRead
Air · Drone / systemPoland

WARMATE family

Polish family of portable loitering munitions, with baseline aircraft and larger numbered variants requiring separate specifications.

In service / use documentedRead
Air · Drone / systemPoland

GLADIUS BSP-U / WARMATE 5–10

The expendable airborne effectors within Poland's GLADIUS system, distinct from its reusable FT-5 reconnaissance aircraft.

Order / production commitmentRead
Air · Drone / systemFrance / Italy / Sweden / Spain / Greece / Switzerland

nEUROn demonstrator

European uncrewed combat-aircraft technology demonstrator, explicitly intended for research rather than operational missions.

Development / trialsRead
Air · Drone / systemLatvia / United States

Penguin Mk2.5 VTOL

VTOL member of the Penguin reconnaissance family, with a 12-hour-class published endurance and Baltic military customers.

In service / use documentedRead
Air · Drone / systemSerbia

Pegaz / Pegasus

Serbian medium-range reconnaissance and multirole UAV documented in the Ministry of Defence's equipment presentation.

In service / use documentedRead
Air · Drone / systemEstonia

EOS C VTOL

Estonian all-electric VTOL reconnaissance aircraft with day and thermal imaging and supplier-documented use in Ukraine and NATO countries.

In service / use documentedRead
Air · Drone / systemUkraine

SHARK-D

SHARK-D is an electric tactical reconnaissance aircraft. Its current manufacturer specification is recorded separately from the other SHARK configurations.

Supplier accountRead
Air · Drone / systemUkraine

SHARK-M

SHARK-M is an electric tactical reconnaissance aircraft. Its current manufacturer specification is recorded separately from the other SHARK configurations.

Supplier accountRead
Air · Drone / systemUkraine

MINI SHARK

A portable electric reconnaissance aircraft with hand launch and automatic belly landing. The current detailed product table differs materially from older overview figures.

Supplier accountRead
Air · Drone / systemUkraine

Raybird / ACS-3

A long-endurance tactical reconnaissance family also known as ACS-3. Skyeton’s current Raybird page describes a 23 kg aircraft with modular payloads.

Supplier accountRead
Air · Drone / systemUkraine

Leleka / Leleka-100

A Ukrainian tactical reconnaissance family. DeViRo’s current Leleka page lists substantially improved endurance and route length compared with historical Leleka-100 literature.

Supplier accountRead
Air · Drone / systemUkraine

A1-SM Furia

A Ukrainian reconnaissance aircraft family developed by Athlon Avia. Ukraine’s War Museum documented the transfer of a Furia aircraft to its collection in 2026.

Use documentedRead
Air · Drone / systemUkraine

UJ-22 Airborne

A Ukrainian multipurpose unmanned aircraft publicly presented by Ukrjet in 2021. It is distinct from the company’s jet-powered and later numbered systems.

Supplier accountRead
Air · Drone / systemUkraine

Vampire

A reusable Ukrainian heavy hexacopter, codified and procured by the Ministry of Defence.

Use documentedRead
Air · Drone / systemUkraine

R18

R18 is one of the heavy reusable multirotor families named by an official Ukrainian military operator account.

Use documentedRead
Air · Drone / systemUkraine

Kazhan

Kazhan is one of the heavy reusable multirotor families named by an official Ukrainian military operator account.

Use documentedRead
Air · Drone / systemUkraine

RAM-2X

A Ukrainian loitering munition currently presented as part of the RAM family. The current site distinguishes RAM-2X from Black Betty.

Supplier accountRead
Air · Drone / systemUkraine

Black Betty

A publicly named RAM-family aircraft whose manufacturer withholds almost all numerical specifications.

Supplier accountRead
Air · Drone / systemUkraine

FP-1

Fire Point’s long-distance one-way aircraft, marketed alongside the related FP family.

Supplier accountRead
Air · Drone / systemUkraine

FP-2

Fire Point’s shorter-range one-way aircraft, marketed alongside the related FP family.

Supplier accountRead
Air · Drone / systemUkraine

Peklo

A Ukrainian drone-missile hybrid whose first production batch was publicly handed over in December 2024.

Use documentedRead
Air · Drone / systemUkraine

Palyanytsia

A Ukrainian drone-missile programme with publicly discussed Lithuanian financing for production.

Order / production commitmentRead
Air · Drone / systemUkraine / United Kingdom

Octopus

An interceptor programme developed within Ukraine’s Armed Forces. The ministry announced procurement of 8,000 interceptors on 30 April 2026.

Use documentedRead
Air · Drone / systemUkraine

STING

A Ukrainian interceptor family from Wild Hornets, listed by the government-backed Brave1 Market with day/night and digital configurations.

Use documentedRead
Air · Drone / systemUkraine

Shvidun

An interceptor authorised for Ukrainian military use, described in a March 2026 Ministry of Defence profile.

Use documentedRead
Air · Drone / systemUkraine

Bober / Beaver

A Ukrainian long-range one-way aircraft programme publicly acknowledged by Defence Intelligence of Ukraine.

Use documentedRead
Air · Drone / systemUkraine

PUNISHER

A reusable Ukrainian tactical aircraft whose current ARMADRONE material presents an updated PUNISHER configuration.

Supplier accountRead
Air · Drone / systemUkraine

Concept / announced

Antonov heavy UAV proposal

A historical proposal for a Ukrainian heavy strategic reconnaissance and multirole UAV, discussed publicly by Antonov in February 2021.

Concept — not fieldedRead
Air · Drone / systemRussia

Orlan-10 / Orlan-10E

A widely documented Russian tactical reconnaissance family. Export Orlan-10E data differs from the domestic Orlan-10 figures recorded by Ukrainian intelligence.

Use documentedRead
Air · Drone / systemRussia

Orlan-30

A Russian tactical reconnaissance aircraft marketed alongside Orlan-10E, with separate programme identity and equipment.

Supplier accountRead
Air · Drone / systemRussia

Supercam S350

A fixed-wing surveillance family with civilian and military applications. Current Russian and English manufacturer tables disagree on maximum take-off mass.

Use documentedRead
Air · Drone / systemRussia

ZALA Z-16 / 421-16E

An electric Russian reconnaissance aircraft identified in GUR’s catalogue as Z-16 (421-16E). The ZALA family also contains several differently configured aircraft.

Use documentedRead
Air · Drone / systemRussia

Orion / Inokhodets

A Russian medium-altitude remotely piloted aircraft family, with Orion-E offered for export. Sirius is a separate larger programme.

Supplier accountRead
Air · Drone / systemRussia

Forpost-R

Forpost-R is a Russian unmanned-aircraft programme associated with UZGA in the public intelligence record.

Use documentedRead
Air · Drone / systemRussia

Reported / unverified

Altius / Altair

Altius / Altair is a Russian unmanned-aircraft programme associated with UZGA in the public intelligence record.

Reported projectRead
Air · Drone / systemRussia

S-70 Okhotnik

A heavy uncrewed combat-aircraft development programme. Recovery of a crashed aircraft in October 2024 demonstrates a real airframe but does not establish a fully operational fleet.

Development / trialsRead
Air · Drone / systemRussia

Concept / announced

Grom — Kronshtadt concept

A proposed jet combat-aircraft and collaborative-autonomy concept. It is distinct from the unrelated small Grom multirotor.

Concept — not fieldedRead
Air · Drone / systemRussia / Iran

Geran-2

Russian-produced derivatives of the Iranian Shahed-136 design. Changes in production and mission equipment make Geran-2 a family rather than a single frozen specification.

Use documentedRead
Air · Drone / systemRussia

Geran-3

A jet-powered member of the Russian Geran line identified in Ukraine’s public recovered-system database.

Use documentedRead
Air · Drone / systemRussia

Geran-4

A newer Russian jet-powered one-way aircraft described in Ukraine’s 2026 intelligence reporting. Geran-4 has a separate profile from the earlier family members.

Use documentedRead
Air · Drone / systemRussia

Geran-5

A newer Russian jet-powered one-way aircraft described in Ukraine’s 2026 intelligence reporting. Geran-5 has a separate profile from the earlier family members.

Use documentedRead
Air · Drone / systemRussia

Gerbera

A Russian expendable drone family used in decoy, reconnaissance and other configurations. It should not be assumed that every Gerbera carries the same equipment.

Use documentedRead
Air · Drone / systemRussia

Garpiya / Harpiya-A1

A Russian long-range one-way aircraft family whose production network is described in a US Treasury attribution published in October 2024.

Use documentedRead
Air · Drone / systemRussia

Molniya family

A family of relatively simple fixed-wing drones identified in recovered-system reporting. The original strike aircraft and Molniya-2R reconnaissance configuration are distinct.

Use documentedRead
Air · Drone / systemRussia

Italmas / Izdeliye-54

A Russian expendable aircraft programme listed separately from Lancet in GUR’s public catalogue.

Supplier accountRead
Air · Drone / systemRussia

KUB family

A Russian loitering-munition family marketed in export form as KUB-E. Later KUB-numbered products require their own configuration-specific evidence.

Supplier accountRead
Air · Drone / systemRussia

SKAT 350 M

A Russian reconnaissance drone marketed by Kalashnikov and presented to the Russian Ministry of Defence.

Supplier accountRead
Air · Drone / systemUkraine

Liutyi

A Ukrainian long-range one-way aircraft identified in public research on the country’s drone industry and autonomous systems.

Use documentedRead
Air · Drone / systemUkraine

AQ 400 Scythe

A Ukrainian long-range one-way aircraft marketed by Terminal Autonomy as the AQ 400 Scythe.

Supplier accountRead
Air · Drone / systemUkraine

Khyzhak REBOFF

A Ukrainian family of fibre-optic-controlled FPV aircraft. The Ministry of Defence described codified models and deliveries to military units in May 2025.

Use documentedRead
Air · Drone / systemUkraine

PD-2

A modular tactical reconnaissance aircraft offered in conventional and vertical-takeoff configurations. It represents Ukraine's domestic ecosystem of observation drones and sensor manufacturers.

Supplier accountRead
Air · Drone / systemRussia

Lancet

A Russian loitering-munition family prominent in public reporting on the war in Ukraine. Different Lancet variants and claimed upgrades need separate sourcing.

Use documentedRead