Czech Republic's new Gryf drone carrier combines airborne interceptors and missiles for extended air defense patrols.

At the Future Forces Forum in Prague, Czech defense manufacturer KBP International officially introduced the Gryf tactical counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS) drone carrier. The persistent loitering platform is engineered to carry airborne interceptors and lightweight missiles to conduct successive engagements against incoming aerial threats without requiring ground re-launches. This development addresses urgent European and NATO operational requirements for long-endurance aerial screening against one-way attack drones and loitering munitions.

The Gryf is designed to carry different types of interceptor drones and lightweight missiles, as the most suitable interceptor against a slow reconnaissance UAV may differ from one intended to engage a faster one-way attack drone. (Picture source: Army Recognition)

On October 21, 2026, Czech company KBP International introduced the Gryf tactical C-UAS drone at the Future Forces Forum in Prague, displaying two configurations carrying interceptor UAVs and lightweight missiles during a presentation attended by Czech President Petr Pavel and military representatives. The drone carrier has four external hardpoints, a 6.4 m wingspan, a 3.72 m length, a 200 kg maximum takeoff weight and a 50 kg payload capacity. Its four-cylinder piston engine drives a rear-mounted propeller, providing a cruising speed of 150 km/h, with an advertised endurance of 12 hours, a patrol altitude up to 4,000 m above ground level (AGL) and a separately announced operational range of 500 km.

Unlike a single-use interceptor, the Gryf is intended to remain airborne with several counter-drone weapons available for launch, allowing one drone to conduct successive engagements without returning to its operating base after each interception. Its unveiling also coincides with Czech plans to acquire nearly 3,000 UAVs through 2028 and a requirement increasingly evident in Ukraine, where Russian Geran attack drones, Gerbera decoys and reconnaissance UAVs impose repeated demands on air defense units. The Gryf's 50 kg payload capacity represents 25% of its 200 kg maximum takeoff weight, compared with 29.1% for the American Insitu Integrator, carrying 23 kg at 79 kg, and 21.4% for the Turkish Bayraktar TB2, carrying 150 kg at 700 kg. Its 6.4 m wingspan is 30.6% greater than the Integrator's 4.9 m and 46.7% smaller than the TB2's 12 m.

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The Portuguese Tekever AR5, for its part, matches the Gryf's 50 kg payload but offers 20 hours of endurance against 12 hours; however, the Gryf cruises 50% faster, at 150 km/h against 100 km/h. Four 5 kg interceptors would consume 20 kg, or 40% of the Gryf's payload, leaving a nominal 30 kg for mounting equipment and sensors, although hardpoint limits, fuel capacity, engine power, and full-payload endurance remain unspecified. The Gryf separates the reusable aircraft maintaining an airborne patrol from the expendable weapons conducting interceptions. KBP's Odin interceptor provides a potential candidate for integration, reaching 290 km/h, with a 160 km/h cruising speed, a 35 km range, a 22-minute endurance, a 6,700 m operating altitude, and a 0.5 kg payload.

The Odin is intended to engage targets traveling up to 290 km/h, using automatic navigation toward the interception area and operator authorization for the final attack, but compatibility with the Gryf has not been confirmed. Ukrainian interceptors illustrate the performance required for faster targets: the Jedi Shahed Hunter exceeds 350 km/h and reaches 6,000 m, the Shvidun exceeds 250 km/h with a range greater than 70 km, and the German-Ukrainian Spys reaches 450 km/h. The Gryf's 150 km/h cruising speed therefore primarily determines patrol repositioning, while interception performance depends on the weapons carried and their ability to receive targeting information. Russia's use of Geran one-way attack drones, Gerbera decoys and reconnaissance UAVs against Ukraine, where defenders must distinguish genuine threats from decoys, has accelerated the development of these dedicated aerial interceptors.

Ukrainian authorities reported approximately 100 UAV destructions by the Shvidun as of April 2026, providing a combat reference for this new category of weapon. The Gryf would introduce a different launch arrangement by carrying interceptors into the air before a hostile drone is detected, potentially reducing the delay associated with ground launches. At 4,000 m altitude, its geometric horizon reaches 226 km over flat terrain, although actual detection depends on radar performance and target size. A patrol area 150 km from its base would consume two hours of round-trip transit at 150 km/h, leaving ten theoretical hours on station from a 12-hour sortie before fuel reserves, maneuvering and payload-related endurance losses. Airbus's Low-Cost Air Defence (LOAD) project provides another European comparison because it also separates the reusable aircraft from the guided weapons used to intercept hostile drones.

Introduced in March 2025, the LOAD uses a modified Do-DT25 target drone to carry up to three guided missiles, with a declared operational range exceeding 100 km. The underlying Do-DT25 has a 2.5 m wingspan, a 3.1 m length, a maximum speed of 300 knots and an endurance of approximately one hour, although these figures do not necessarily apply unchanged to the armed aircraft. The Gryf's wingspan is 2.56 times that of the Do-DT25, while its advertised 12-hour endurance is twelve times the baseline target drone's flight duration. However, the LOAD incorporates radar cueing, ground-station supervision, autonomous search functions, operator authorization, and parachute recovery, establishing a complete sequence between target detection, weapon release, and aircraft reuse.

The distinction becomes operationally important in the face of drone swarm attacks: the LOAD would require repeated sorties to maintain coverage, whereas the Gryf could remain airborne longer but would still need to return after exhausting its four carried interceptors. The Czech Republic is simultaneously expanding its drone procurement, military experimentation and domestic UAV manufacturing. In April 2026, Defence Minister Jaromír Zůna confirmed five procurement procedures covering nearly 3,000 drones through 2028, but no order for the Gryf has been announced to date. The Federated Cloud 2026 exercise, for instance, conducted from April 8 to 24 at Bechyně airfield, focused on drone detection, electronic warfare, and information exchange.

For its part, Drone Shield 2026 involved more than 1,000 participants, 49 counter-drone companies, and 24 unmanned ground vehicle companies within an exercise involving 17 countries at Březina and Lipník nad Bečvou. For its part, the Czech manufacturer U&C UAS reported producing between 100 and 300 drones monthly at Kolín in June, equivalent to 1,200 to 3,600 units annually if sustained. On June 16, Czechoslovak Group subsidiary AviaNera Technologies also signed a propulsion partnership with Ukrainian Armor for UAV and cruise missile engines, complementing KBP's activities in MVVS piston engines, composites and unmanned aircraft integration.

Czech sensor manufacturers are developing capabilities that could provide targeting information to an airborne interceptor carrier. Retia's ReGUARD 3D radar has an instrumental range of 0.58 to 18 km, an altitude coverage up to 3 km, and a deployment time below ten minutes, while its ReCAS architecture integrates ReCUBE command and control, ReJAMM jamming, ReCAM electro-optical equipment and ReSCAN radio-frequency detection. ERA received a CZK 1.90 billion contract excluding VAT in September 2025 for the PLESS, comprising one stationary and two modular mobile passive surveillance systems.

For its part, ERA subsidiary R-SYS develops the DOMINUS X with radar, electro-optical, infrared, multilateration and ADS-B inputs, while EOS Applications' THANEOS provides automated visual detection and tracking. Czechia Systems introduced its vehicle-mounted MURMUS counter-drone system in May 2026, but an operational integration with the Gryf would logically require compatible target coordinates, continuous track updates, identification procedures, communications, and authorization before weapons release.

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Written by Jérôme Brahy

Jérôme Brahy is a defense analyst and documentalist at Army Recognition. He specializes in naval modernization, aviation, drones, armored vehicles, and artillery, with a focus on strategic developments in the United States, China, Ukraine, Russia, South Korea, Türkiye, and Belgium. His analyses go beyond the facts, providing context, identifying key actors, and explaining why defense news matters on a global scale.