This U.S.-made drone made its combat debut in Ukraine
An illustration of a Fortem Technologies DroneHunter capturing a drone.
Courtesy of Fortem Technologies
A Utah-based drone system developed and manufactured by Fortem Technologies is helping Ukrainian forces capture drones used by Russia on the battlefield.
The counter-unmanned aerial system, dubbed
Drone Hunter F700, was initially donated to Ukrainian forces at the start of the war and then made its combat debut on the battlefield in May.
In Ukraine, Drone Hunter, as its name implies, captures Russian surveillance and reconnaissance drones by shooting a net around them to either ground or tow the system away from the battlefield.
"The Ukrainians love the system because they are able to reuse some of the drones that they capture. They are actually getting additional assets out of this," Jon Gruen, chairman and CEO at Fortem Technologies, told CNBC.
Warren Brown, Fortem Technologies vice president of marketing, echoed Gruen and said that in some cases, Ukrainian forces have been able to fingerprint the captured drones.
"If you explode the drone then you don't have any reconnaissance of where it came and what it's mission is," Brown added.
An illustration of Fortem Technologies DroneHunter system intercepting a drone.
Courtesy of Fortem Technologies
Gruen explained that Fortem Technologies has developed the Drone Hunter system after receiving specific feedback from Ukrainian forces.
The counter-unmanned aerial system, which can be used completely autonomously, has recently been modified to help counter Iranian-made drones being used by Russian forces in Ukraine.
Gruen said that Ukraine has about 10 of Fortem's drones currently in operation, but that more are on the way.
"From start to finish it takes about three days to learn how to operate the system," Gruen added.
— Amanda Macias