The Ukrainian Armed Forces are using the U.S.-made V2X Tempest, a high-mobility vehicle with a launcher for AGM-114 Hellfire missiles that is optimized for the counter-uncrewed aerial systems (C-UAS) role. Mounting Hellfires on a high-mobility vehicle provides a new means of employing these weapons unpredictably, not only against drone threats, but potentially also other aerial targets, too.
The Tempest was showcased in a video put out recently by Ukraine’s Air Force Command Center, suggesting that the flying branch is the likely operator. However, the new weapon was neither announced nor identified. The footage shows a pair of Hellfire missiles being launched, purportedly against Russian drones, with tracer rounds also seen climbing into the night sky.
The related video is posted below, but if it does not appear for you, here is the link to the Facebook reel.
Interestingly, a blurred version of the same video had been published last October, but it wasn’t possible to identify the system involved.
In the last few days, more still imagery has appeared, providing a much better look at the Ukrainian-operated Tempest. These photos reportedly show the combat vehicle while undergoing crew training.
This confirms the identity of the system, which the Virginia-based V2X debuted at the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) exhibition last October. The transfer of the Tempest to Ukraine had not been publicly announced.
The Tempest combines a twin Longbow launcher with a radar placed on a highly mobile, modular, lightweight 4×4 chassis — apparently a Can-Am Maverick X3 side-by-side vehicle (SSV). According to V2X, the system is suitable for targeting short- and medium-range drones, in all weather conditions. The radar appears to be an existing counter-drone type that operates in the millimeter wave for active detection and to initially cue the missile. This radar would be ideal for picking up relatively small and relatively slow-moving targets, but it only has a very limited range — similar to that of the Hellfire.
There is no evidence of electro-optical and infrared cameras to supplement the radar, but there are aerials visible on the left rear side of the vehicle. These are almost certainly a passive radio frequency (RF) detection system. This is an independent way to locate some drones that are giving off their own radio emissions. The buggy can do this without emitting its own radio frequency energy, that helps it from being targeted, as well. Passive detection would help mitigate the single radar array, which means the vehicle needs to be pointed in the direction of the target in order to acquire it and fire its missiles. Usually, such radars are arrayed in a group of four, pointing in each direction for 360-degree coverage. Instead, the passive detection system can be used to initially pick up the threat, before the vehicle (and its radar) is oriented toward it for acquisition and firing. Many drones do not give off RF emissions, especially those that run on autopilot or use fiber optic wire control links. In those cases, they would have to pass through the radar’s field of view.
Fundamental to the design is its ability to employ ‘shoot and scoot’ tactics, rapidly moving to a new position after firing, making it less vulnerable to detection and to enemy counterfire.
Since it makes extensive use of commercially available off-the-shelf components, the Tempest is also said to be cheaper and faster to produce than more traditional vehicles of this type.
As well as its primary C-UAS role, the Tempest can also engage helicopters, some cruise missile types, and fixed-wing aircraft, although against the latter target set, in particular, it is limited by the relatively short range of its Hellfire missiles.
V2X also offers a stationary, trailer-mounted variant of the Tempest for the static defense of high-value objectives, such as storage facilities and airfields. It’s unknown if any of these have been delivered to Ukraine.
As for the missile armament, this is understood to comprise the AGM-114L Hellfire Longbow version. Hellfire missiles, the majority of which are laser-guided munitions, are best known as air-to-ground weapons, but the millimeter wave radar-guided AGM-114L variant has emerged as a useful tool for tackling drones in recent years. The AGM-114L has a range of around five miles and carries a roughly 20-pound warhead. This is enough destructive power to deal with many kinds of drones, while also reducing the risk of collateral damage on the ground. While these missiles are now out of production, they were likely substantially more expensive than the laser-guided versions. As of 2020, Hellfire had an average cost, across all variants, of more than $200,000.
The AGM-114L is the same missile that U.S. Army AH-64 Apache attack helicopters are using for C-UAS, with specific modifications made to them for this role. In this application, the missile is initially cued by the Apache’s AN/APG-78 Longbow mast-mounted radar system. AGM-114Ls are also primary weapons for other land-based counter-drone systems, including the Army’s M-SHORAD.
It’s worth noting that a very different version of the Hellfire has already been fielded by Ukraine.
This is the Swedish RBS 17 coastal defense missile system, which uses a derivative of the semi-active laser-guided AGM-114C Hellfire anti-tank missile and was sent to Ukraine by Sweden in an aid package announced in the summer of 2022. Subsequently, further examples were provided to Ukraine from Norwegian stocks.
While mainly designed for the close-in shore defense role — defending against amphibious landings and shallow water threats — Ukrainian forces instead seem to have employed the RBS 17 primarily against land targets. The missiles used in the RBS 17 system would not be suitable for use from the Tempest, however, whether for C-UAS use or against other targets, due to their guidance mode and the apparent lack of additional targeting systems on the vehicle.
Overall, Ukraine’s new C-UAS system may well still be in the evaluation phase, or at least only fielded in small quantities, but the video evidence suggests that it might already be enjoying some success. At the very least, this is probably the most highly mobile ground C-UAS kinetic shooter we have seen.
Whatever its status and the number of systems that are being delivered, the Tempest is clearly of interest to Ukraine, especially as the winter months mean that Russia is upping the tempo of its regular drone barrages against cities and infrastructure.
Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com