The Japanese company Terra Drone plans to significantly expand the production of Ukrainian interceptor drones Terra A1 and Terra A2, as well as invest in the development of new jet drones. The equipment, created taking into account combat experience, is manufactured by the domestic company Amazing Drones.
The Japanese company Terra Drone plans to significantly expand the production of Ukrainian interceptor drones Terra A1 and Terra A2, as well as invest in the development of new jet drones. The equipment, created taking into account combat experience, is manufactured by the domestic company Amazing Drones.
Terra Drone CEO Toru Tokushige spoke about these plans during the presentation of the devices. Details from the event are provided by the publication "Military".
Japanese investors are negotiating not only with Amazing Drones, but also with other Ukrainian developers. According to Tokushige, Ukraine is attractive for its speed of development and low cost, but local manufacturers often lack experience in mass production and entering global markets. Many processes are still performed manually, which makes scaling difficult, so the Japanese side plans to focus on the development of autonomous systems.
The partnership’s flagship product is the Terra A1 vertical take-off and landing interceptor drone. The device accelerates to 280 km/h, can fly for 15 minutes at a distance of up to 18 kilometers and carry a half kilogram of payload. The company notes that one of these drones has already successfully intercepted a “Shahed”, which is critically important for confirming combat effectiveness in the international market.
In addition, the developers presented the Terra A2 aircraft-type interceptor, which is launched from a catapult. It has a speed of up to 310 km/h, is able to climb to an altitude of up to five kilometers and has a flight range of up to 75 kilometers with an airtime of about 40 minutes. Tokushige notes that such devices are needed to create a multi-level defense because they can patrol the territory, intercept targets, and subsequent drones launched will close the gaps in the airspace.
The next step should be investments in Ukrainian jet drones. The developers expect that future devices will be able to reach speeds of up to 440 km/h, carry up to 3.5 kg of explosives and cover a distance of 140 kilometers. Tokushige emphasized that the development of such technologies in Ukraine takes place literally in half a year, so Ukrainian startups are very important for the industry.
In the future, Terra Drone seeks to integrate artificial intelligence technologies into its developments so that drones can capture targets independently. The Japanese corporation is already participating in local tenders and expects to bring Ukrainian developments to international markets, estimating the potential at hundreds of millions of dollars.
As a reminder, earlier the Japanese company Terra Drone acquired a stake in the Ukrainian startup Amazing Drones. The goal of the deal was to create a global product by combining Ukrainian combat experience and advanced Japanese technologies.
