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Mercury (ANT)
Illustration (artist impression) by The Adepti — not a photo; shape and proportions from public descriptions, details indicative
Drones · Reconnaissance (ISR)

Mercury (ANT)

Ukrainian VTOL reconnaissance drone built around Russian EW
UA

Tactical reconnaissance, target detection and fire correction with layered, jam-resistant links

A vertical take-off reconnaissance drone from Ukraine's ANT (Aviation New Technologies), first shown in June 2025 and codified by Ukraine's Ministry of Defence. The version presented in October 2026 flies further and longer and is designed around Russian jamming and the loss of GNSS: a second FHSS link, navigation without satellites and a radio-silent mode. Figures are developer claims and partly differ from those given at the 2025 launch.

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Key data

Manufacturer
ANT — Aviation New Technologies (Ukraine)
Take-off weight
19 kg (was 13 kg)
Range
250 km, up to 300 km operationally (was 170 km)
Endurance
4 hours nominal, up to 5 hours in practice (was 2.5 hours)
Ceiling / speed
4,000 m; cruise 90 km/h, top 126 km/h
Sensors
Day camera up to 210x zoom + 1280 × 1024 thermal; vehicles to ~20 km, people to ~15 km (claim)

EW resistance

Links
Primary 5.8 GHz; backup 433 MHz with frequency hopping (FHSS)
Navigation
GPS/GLONASS, inertial navigation without satellites and radio beacons; autonomous route flight, radio-silent mode, automatic return
Deployment
VTOL from 5 × 5 m; a set of two drones + ground station set up in 15 min by two operators

Relevance

Why it matters
Shows how ISR drones are redesigned around EW: layered links, FHSS and GNSS-free navigation — the same logic seen on Russian drones
Source
Militarnyi (20 Oct 2026), RU Mil Tracker e-20261021-07; developer claims
See also
The Orlan-10 and EW: jamming & GPS spoofing cards

News archive 1

Analysed reports from the RU Mil Tracker about this system, newest first. Archive since 2026-07-17.

  1. Ukraine's ANT upgrades Mercury VTOL reconnaissance UAS: up to 300 km range, 4-5 h endurance and FHSS backup link against Russian EW

    Ukrainian company ANT (Aviation New Technologies) has unveiled an upgraded version of its Mercury reconnaissance UAS, Militarnyi reports. According to the developer, maximum altitude rises from 3,000 to 4,000 m, rated endurance from 2.5 to 4 hours (up to five in practice), and maximum range from 170 to 250 km, reaching up to 300 km under operational conditi…

    VariantDeploymentPerformanceRU Mil Tracker · 1 source
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