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Ukraine Tests New Shershen Multi-Caliber Air Defense System Designed to Fire Nearly Any Missile
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![Photo of Vlad Litnarovych]( "Photo of Vlad Litnarovych")
Ukraine has tested a newly developed multi-caliber air defense system known as Shershen, according to comments shared with the defense outlet Militarnyi during the World Defense Show 2026 on February 13.
Serhii Honcharov, director of the National Association of Defense Industries of Ukraine, said the system’s core components have already been validated using five different missile types.
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Testing has included legacy Soviet-era weapons, foreign-produced missiles, and emerging Ukrainian designs, reflecting a concept built around flexibility rather than dependence on a single supplier.
An official video released on February 12 by the association showed elements of the system, including a launcher and radar. A radar model displayed at the exhibition suggests the architecture allows for multiple sensor configurations rather than a fixed supplier solution.
“The radar can be adapted to the system according to the customer’s wishes. There is no strict requirement that it must be only Thales, or only HENSOLDT, or Teledyne, Girafe, or any other radar. Everything can be adapted, and the control system is very flexible and at least three times cheaper than global analogues,” Honcharov said.
This modular approach appears central to the system’s design philosophy, allowing different radar and missile combinations to be integrated depending on operational needs and available inventory.
Earlier reporting indicated the Shershen system has already been fired using five missile types. Honcharov explained the number reflects practical testing rather than a technical limit.
“Why five? Because five were simply fired. If other types are needed for implementation, the work will be carried out to adapt them, and they can also be used with this system,” he said.
Images released by Militarnyi show a launcher equipped with R-27 missiles using infrared guidance, one photographed without its protective cap, likely during a testing phase. A demonstration model displayed a possible three-missile configuration of the same family, which exists in both infrared-guided and radar-guided variants.
Because the R-27 uses a modular design, its engagement range varies by version. That variation would also influence performance when launched from a ground-based platform rather than from an aircraft.
Ukraine has struggled with persistent shortages of air defense missiles during prolonged large-scale aerial attacks. Many Western and Soviet-designed systems in service depend on specific missile supplies tied to individual manufacturers, leaving launchers unusable when compatible interceptors are unavailable.
Developers say the Shershen concept is intended to solve that vulnerability. By enabling a single launcher to operate with multiple missile calibers drawn from legacy stockpiles, foreign deliveries, or future domestic production, the system aims to expand interception capacity while reducing long-term dependence on any one supplier.
Earlier, the Ukrainian company SEE (System Electronic Export), in cooperation with NAUDI, unveiled a new autonomous aerial interception system known as SEEDIS at the World Defense Show in Riyadh.
-72b63a4e0c8c475ad81fe3eed3f63729.jpeg "Photo of Cyril Barabaltchouk")
