The Polish defense company, Grupa WB, has most recently introduced a new loitering munition, or kamikaze drone, named WARMATE 5.0.
The WARMATE strike drones, first of which introduced in 2015, have been in service with the Polish Armed Forces for several years and are also exported to Ukraine and Georgia, among others.
Meanwhile, the 5.0 version, which was only unveiled through animations built upon the earlier versions of the drone, is said to have been modernized and can carry a larger explosive payload, approximately 5 kg.
Lukasz Miazgowski, international business development manager at Grupa WB said the system has proven to be quite successful, including for export.
“We have potential foreign customers,” he said.
The WARMATE 5.0 is dubbed similar to the Russian Lancet loitering munition by Western and Ukrainian media. The drone is being procured by the Polish Armed Forces as a component of the Gladius program.
The strike drone is employed for targeting various objectives, such as command centers, anti-aircraft missile sites, and other critical targets.
Miazgowski continued: “That is, radar systems, electronic warfare systems, air defense systems, positions, so to speak, of enemy concentration around training centers or points of troop concentration.”
The system will also undergo enhancements to enable the integration of advanced artificial intelligence, enhancing its capability for high-level information processing to identify priority targets.
