Ukraine’s New DART Missile Takes to the Stratosphere to Outsmart Electronic Warfare

Ukraine’s Center of Innovative Technologies Program has introduced a new missile system, the DART, designed to be launched from stratospheric balloons.

This development aims to provide a reliable strike capability that remains unaffected by enemy electronic warfare measures, according to Militarnyi on June 16.

The system is intended for deployment from altitudes between 12 and 18 kilometers. To ensure the missile maintains a stable trajectory and activates accurately regardless of the drop conditions, engineers have equipped the DART with specialized servo-actuators.

The missile itself measures 1.84 meters in length and weighs 13 kilograms, with a warhead ranging from 3.5 to 10 kilograms, depending on the configuration. The warhead utilizes graphite-based penetrating elements.

The DART operates using a unique guidance mechanism. While a navigation system is used for the initial phase, it is designed to deactivate once the missile reaches an altitude of approximately 6 kilometers. At this point, a solid-fuel engine engages, and the missile proceeds to its target along a fixed course.

By shutting down onboard systems during the final approach, the weapon is rendered immune to signal jamming and other electronic interference employed during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

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The developers emphasized that the balloon platforms used for the launches are not their own internal project, stating: “Aerostats are not our development, but a partner’s.”

The DART is currently moving toward official codification by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. Looking ahead, the design team has outlined plans to adapt the DART technology to create both ballistic missiles and surface-to-air variants.

Previously, Ukrainian defense company OM Defense Systems introduced SPECTR, a new generation of “smart” decoy drones designed to confuse enemy air defenses and force them to waste costly interceptor missiles.

The system, showcased at the Eurosatory defense exhibition on June 16, was described as a fully autonomous “push-and-fly” drone engineered to be resistant to electronic interference, cost-efficient, and based on a modern software platform.

By generating a strong and adjustable radar signature, the drone was intended to saturate air defense networks and provoke responses as if it were a real combat threat.

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