Ukraine Deploys ‘Tempest’ Anti-Drone Buggy as Russia Intensifies UAV Attacks
The rise of drone warfare has pushed Ukraine to pursue increasingly creative means of combatting Russia’s cheap, mass-produced one-way attack UAVs. Now accounting for roughly 70% of the conflict’s casualties, Ukraine’s military, civilians, and infrastructure have suffered untold damage. Tasked with defending an ever-widening swath of civilian and military targets, Ukraine has deployed novel defense strategies ranging from high-tech laser guns to lining hundreds of miles of roads and infrastructure with drone-catching fishing nets.
Meet the Tempest: A High-Speed Drone Interceptor
One recent addition to Ukraine’s cadre of anti-UAV weapons is a rocket-strapped buggy known as the Tempest. Designed to counter uncrewed aerial systems (C-UAS), the Tempest is essentially a Can-Am Maverick X3 side-by-side off-roading vehicle equipped with a dual Hellfire missile launcher, radar, and potentially a passive radio frequency detection system. Built by V2X, a Virginia-based defense manufacturer, the Tempest was publicly debuted in October 2025 at the Association of the United States Army exhibition, with Ukraine receiving units by at least December 2025.
While the exact number of Tempests currently in Ukraine’s arsenal remains unclear, V2X’s success has garnered attention, leading to a sole-source contract from the Marine Corps Systems Command to construct the Denied Area Sprinter-Hellfire (DASH) system.
Hellfire Missiles: A Powerful, But Costly, Payload
The Tempest appears to be equipped with a dual launcher of Lockheed Martin’s AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, a weapon originally designed as an air-to-ground missile deployed by the AH-64 Apache helicopter. Despite being somewhat superseded by the Joint Air-to-Ground Missile system, the Hellfire remains a versatile option. The Tempest likely utilizes the Longbow variant, a smaller Hellfire missile equipped with 20 pounds of explosives and radar-guided targeting.
The Hellfire missile will undoubtedly make the Tempest a formidable opponent of cruise missiles, fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and attack drones within its five-mile range. However, its cost presents a challenge. The average cost of Hellfire missiles was approximately $200,000 in 2021 1. This contrasts sharply with the cost of Russia’s Iran-manufactured Shahed drones, which can be as low as $35,000, highlighting an economic hurdle faced by the anti-UAV defense industry.
Mobility and Multi-Layered Defense
The Tempest’s greatest advantage may be its mobility. Demonstrated in a Ukrainian-released video, the vehicle’s chassis is designed for extreme off-roading environments. Ukraine hopes this mobility will enable “shoot and scoot” tactics, allowing air defenses to continually attack targets from different locations to avoid counterattacks. This is particularly crucial as UAVs expand the geographic scope of targets, impacting critical infrastructure, military encampments, and civilian installations.
The Tempest is intended to be part of a broader, multi-layered defense network. According to Ukraine’s Air Command Center, at least 21 Russian Shahed drones have been downed by the combat buggy. While effective, its impact is limited. Russia launched over 54,500 UAVs in 2025 1, with over 19,000 air alerts recorded across the country. One September 2025 attack involved over 800 drones.
To bolster its defenses, Ukraine is building its own iteration of Israel’s Iron Dome aerial defense system—a multi-layered network of interceptor drones, short-range rockets, electromagnetic defense systems, and approximately 2,500 miles of anti-drone nets. Novel weapons systems like the Tempest and the truck-mounted Sunray high-energy laser gun are intended to supplement these large-scale defenses.
1 AP News, “US and Mideast countries seek Ukraine’s drone expertise,” March 4, 2026.