Ukraine’s Dragon air defense system gets new missile to hunt Shahed drones

In its infographic, NV looks back at what the system is.

Dragon is a Ukrainian-made surface-to-air missile system designed to destroy enemy aircraft and drones, including Shahed-type drones. In June 2026, it became known that the small ST-100 missile with an infrared homing seeker was being developed for the system.

The defense outlet Militarnyi reported in mid-June 2026, citing a representative of the Center of Innovative Technologies Program, that Dragon “has been codified and used on the battlefield for a year and a half” — meaning it has become part of Ukraine’s air defense system. Dragon is known to be used to destroy Russian Shaheds and similar drones.

The Dragon launcher is mounted on an HMMWV off-road vehicle in the M1097A1 or M1097A2 variant and carries three adapted air-to-air missiles. Initially, it used only older Soviet R-73 air-to-air missiles. After the system was upgraded, it began using U.S. AIM-9M missiles. A new Ukrainian ST-100 surface-to-air missile and R-60 missiles are now expected to be added to the system’s arsenal.

Key specifications of the Dragon air defense system:

• Country of manufacture: Ukraine
• Codified: 2025
• Engagement range: about 10 kilometers
• Deployment time: 15 minutes
• Operating time: 8 hours / 14 days in standby mode
• Speed: 113 kph

The system has an armored cabin with electronic warfare equipment.

It can be controlled remotely through a cable link or Starlink. External target designation using radar stations is possible when needed.

When using missiles with homing seekers, the missiles lock onto the target before launch, allowing the system to fire and immediately change position without tracking the target afterward.

The system currently uses:

• Integrated R-73 air-to-air missiles, with a range of 10–15 kilometers
• AIM-9M missiles, with a range of 8–10 kilometers

Planned integrations include:

• AIM-9X air-to-air missiles, with a range of 35 kilometers
• R-60 air-to-air missiles, with a range of up to 5 kilometers
• ST-100 surface-to-air missiles, with a range of 10 kilometers