Germany Built an Experiment… Ukraine Turned It Into a SUPERWEAPON

The Military Show

Ukraine faces a dangerous threat as Russia deploys faster, jet-powered Geran-4 drones and cruise missiles that outpace current interceptors. However, German firm Quantum Systems’ experimental Apex Recordhunter recently achieved a staggering 699 km/h flight. Now, its Ukrainian subsidiary, WIY Drones, is adapting this ultra-high-speed technology for military use. These fast interceptors could soon neutralize high-speed Russian strikes, protecting cities while preserving scarce PAC-3 Patriot missiles.  ⏱️ CHAPTERS: 00:00 - German Quantum Systems Drone Reaches 699 km/h 01:25 - Quantum Systems Apex Recordhunter Breaks World Speed Record 02:45 - WIY Drones Adapts German Speed Tech for Ukraine 04:00 - Russian Jet Powered Geran 4 Drones Threaten Ukraine 05:25 - Global Patriot PAC 3 Shortage Limits Ukraine Air Defense 06:40 - Russia Fires 23 Iskander Missiles With Zero Interceptions 08:00 - High Speed Drone Interceptors Catch Russian Cruise Missiles 09:15 - Can High Speed Drone Swarms Ambush Russian Su-57s? 10:30 - Cheap Drone Interceptors Save Ukraine Air Defense Budget 11:45 - Will High Speed Interceptors Stop Russian Missile Attacks?  Support us directly as we bring you independent, up-to-date reporting on military news and global conflicts by clicking here: https://www.youtube.com/@TheMilitaryShow/join  #militarystrategy #militarydevelopments #militaryanalysis #themilitaryshow  SOURCES: https://pastebin.com/tAsMAcwa

Transcript

00:00Ukraine has a speed problem. Its rapidly evolving army of interceptor drones has proven incredibly

00:06effective at countering Russia's slower-moving Shahid drones. Unfortunately, those same interceptors

00:12simply aren't quick enough to deal with swifter threats like jet-powered Geren-4s or KH-101

00:17cruise missiles. But that might be about to change, as Ukraine and Germany have now discovered a

00:23genius way to accelerate their interceptors and destroy even the fastest Russian drones.

00:28Meet the Apex Record Hunter. It's an experimental battery-powered drone created by the German company

00:36Quantum Systems, which is headquartered in Bavaria but has offices around the world, and is one of

00:41the leading specialists in the development, design and production of small unmanned aircraft vehicles,

00:47or UAVs. Eager to push the boundaries of UAV technology, Quantum Systems team of next engineers

00:53created the Apex Record Hunter with one objective in mind, to break the world record for battery-powered

01:00aircraft speed. The record was set at 657.59 km per hour by South African brothers

01:09Luke and Mike Bell using their Peregrine V4 drone back in December 2025. On June 26,

01:172026, however, Quantum Systems' Apex Record Hunter went significantly faster,

01:23reaching a peak speed of 699 km per hour or 434 miles per hour during a period of straight and

01:30level

01:30flight. Since the test was carried out internally, without any representatives from the Guinness World

01:36Record team in attendance to monitor and validate the speed, Quantum Systems hasn't officially broken the

01:41record just yet. However, the company appears confident that it will be able to do so,

01:47and is already in the process of preparing for official certification. What's more,

01:51its engineers strongly believe that their creation can go even faster. Senior prototyping engineer

01:57Robert Gardamin told the media that his team had already spent more than a year working on the

02:02Record Hunter, but has no plans to stop any time soon. 699 km per hour is an incredible milestone,

02:10drone, but it's only the beginning. We'll be back very soon to go even faster and make it official.

02:15But why does this matter for Ukraine? After all, the Apex Record Hunter isn't a military drone.

02:21It's a simple experimental product, a one-off UAV that was designed to go as fast as possible,

02:27not to drop bombs on enemy targets. Well, to understand the importance of the story from the

02:32Ukrainian perspective, you have to look past the headlines. It's not about the Record Hunter itself,

02:37or the exact speed it managed to reach. It's about the technology behind it. It's about the fact that

02:43a team of engineers has managed to do something that's once seemed impossible, making a relatively

02:49simple, compact electric drone move almost as quickly as a cruise missile. And the story doesn't

02:54end there. For Ukraine, it's only just beginning. Because here's another important fact about Quantum Systems,

03:00it works extremely closely with Ukraine. In fact, it has its own Ukrainian subsidiary,

03:06We Drones, which is already looking at ways to integrate the same types of technology seen on

03:12the Apex Record Hunter into its own military UAVs, including pre-existing models like the Streeler

03:18Interceptor, and those that are still in development who have just recently been released, like the Jaeger,

03:23which uses a combined electric and rocket drive to reach altitudes of 4,000 meters in just 30 seconds.

03:30We Drones also intends to run its own record-breaking test attempts in the weeks and months to come,

03:35as it strives to make its drones go faster than ever before. Other drone companies across Ukraine are also

03:41working towards that very same goal. And to understand why, we have to look at one of the biggest problems

03:46facing Kyiv's forces today. Even though Russia has taken a serious beating in recent times,

03:52suffering numerous devastating strikes across the occupied territories and its own regions,

03:57including attacks on its oil refineries and military supply lines, it continues to retaliate

04:03with its own aerial strikes against Ukrainian targets. Both day and night, the Kremlin continues

04:08to launch massive swarms of drones and missile salvos over the border towards Ukrainian towns and cities.

04:14These attacks haven't really slowed down or eased off in any major way. In fact, Russia is arguably

04:20making its attacks more intense by using more advanced UAVs and greater quantities of high-speed

04:26missiles, as confirmed by Ukrainian Air Force Communications Directorate Head, Yuri Ichnat,

04:32in a July interview with United News. I wouldn't say that there are fewer of them. They're indeed

04:37focusing more on ballistic missiles now because they understand the problems we have with securing missiles

04:42for Ukraine. But they attack every night, and now during the daytime as well. When the enemy sets such

04:48a goal, drones can attack around the clock. Now, a July 2nd report by the Institute of the Study of

04:54War

04:54also found that Russia seemed to be shifting its focus towards faster aerial assets, like jet-powered drones.

05:01Russian forces may also have shifted manufacturing patterns, such as seeking to decentralize Shahid-type

05:07drone production, or shifting to prioritized drone variants that may be more difficult to manufacture,

05:12such as drones with jet engines. This is likely a direct response to the fact that Ukraine has

05:18developed such an effective interceptor drone fleet, with models like the Skyfall P1 Sun and Wild Hornet

05:24Sting 2 able to seek and destroy Shahid-type drones in the air before they have a chance to get

05:29close to

05:29their intended targets. Realizing that many more of its basic drones were no longer as effective,

05:35Russia appears to have adjusted its approach. And unfortunately for Ukraine, it's working.

05:40Jet-powered drones like the Geren-4 typically cruise at speeds between 300 and 400 kilometers per hour,

05:47or 186 and 248 miles per hour, but can accelerate all the way up to 500 kilometers per hour,

05:54or 311 miles per hour when needed, thanks to their turbojet engines. That's simply too fast for many

06:01Ukrainian interceptors to cope with. The Sting 2 and P1 Sun, for example, have peak speeds of around 300

06:07kilometers per hour, or 186 miles per hour. Russia's missiles also move at rapid speeds,

06:14starting from around 750 kilometers per hour, or 460 miles per hour for models like the Kh-101 and Kh

06:22-55.

06:23Ukraine's existing interceptor fleet stands almost zero chance of stopping these kinds of weapons,

06:29and the problems don't end there. Unfortunately, Kyiv's forces also have very limited numbers of

06:34the high-speed interceptor missiles that need to nullify Russia's fastest threats, like the US-made

06:39PAK-3 missiles used in Patriot batteries. Records show that around 620 of these missiles were made in

06:462025. And that's not just for Ukraine, it's for the whole world, and there are several countries in

06:52line to buy them, countries the likes of Germany, Japan, and Poland. The US itself also likes to

06:58maintain a healthy stockpile of PAK-3 missiles for its own needs and operations, and it doesn't take

07:03long at all for countries to burn through these assets. Indeed, during the Iran war early in 2026,

07:10over 800 patriots were used to defend Middle Eastern nations from Iranian attacks in a matter of days.

07:16Ukraine is facing an even bigger threat, and far more intense attacks every day and night.

07:20There simply aren't enough Patriot missiles on the planet to help it defend itself.

07:25That's not hyperbole, it's fact. According to a detailed analysis carried out by Defense Express,

07:31even if the United States sent every single PAK-3 missile it makes directly to Ukraine,

07:36that still wouldn't be sufficient. Here's why. According to Ukraine's own intelligence data,

07:42Russia produces around 60 Iskander-M ballistic missiles, 40 ballistic missiles for its S-300 and S-400 systems,

07:5010 Kinzhal ballistic missiles, and up to three Zircon hypersonic missiles every month.

07:55That's 113 assets that require Patriot-class interception to counter.

08:00Current PAK-3 production rates are approaching 60 units a month. It's just not enough.

08:06Russia is also leveling up its jet drone manufacture, with plans to produce around 500 Geron-4s

08:12each month. And Ukraine needs either Patriots or other high-end interceptor missiles if it wants

08:17to successfully stop them. And it's not just that these missiles are relatively scarce,

08:22but expensive too. PAK-3s cost several million dollars each. Other interceptors also routinely

08:28approach or pass the million-dollar mark. Given their cost and scarcity, Ukraine can't afford to

08:33waste its interceptors or use them against low-priority, low-value targets. It has to find

08:39cheaper alternatives, but it has struggled to do so and has started to pay the price for those

08:43struggles. On July 7, for example, Russia fired 23 Iskander-M ballistic missiles and six high-speed

08:51Zircon and Onyx missiles at Ukraine in a massive overnight attack. Ukraine failed to intercept a

08:57single one of them. And this wasn't a one-off. It's part of a worrying trend that has seen

09:02Kyiv's forces struggle to cope with Moscow's aerial assault. The technology from the apex record hunter

09:08has the power to halt that trend and get Ukraine back on track. But before we explain how, you're

09:14watching the military show, and if you haven't subscribed yet, now's the time. On the surface,

09:20it appears that problems are mounting up for Ukraine. It's facing increasingly rapid threats from

09:25Russia, which are harder to counter. It's dealing with more intense attacks that can cause major

09:29casualties and widespread destruction. And its stocks of all-important interceptors are running

09:35perilously low. However, all of these problems can be largely resolved with just one thing,

09:40faster interceptors. Ukraine has already demonstrated how impactful interceptor drones can be.

09:46They're relatively cheap to make, easy to deploy, and remarkably effective against the right targets.

09:52In March 2026, for example, Ukrainian interceptors downed more than 33,000 enemy UAVs,

09:58proving just how valuable and integral they had become to the country's defensive efforts.

10:03But in order to remain valuable and impactful, they need to remain relevant. They were extremely

10:08relevant when Russia relied so heavily on its Shahid-136-style drones, which can only reach peak

10:14speeds of around 185 kilometers per hour, or 150 miles per hour. Flying almost twice as fast,

10:21Ukraine's leading interceptors could easily take off and catch up with Shahids that were already in motion,

10:26with pilots or onboard AI systems able to home in on their targets and take them out with ruthless

10:32efficiency. However, as Russia shifts towards faster-moving assets like Geren-4s,

10:38Ukraine interceptors are becoming less relevant. They're unable to catch up with these types of

10:43targets, and instead have to preempt their flight paths and take up perfect positions for head-on

10:48collisions if they want to intercept them. That's much harder, which is why many Geren-4s can easily

10:54bypass the likes of P-1 Suns. But imagine if Ukraine's drones could go as fast as the apex

10:59record hunter and approach speeds of 700 kilometers an hour or 435 miles per hour. Suddenly, the entire

11:07equation shifts in Kyiv's favor. Taking out jet-powered drones would become almost as easy as

11:12wiping out regular Shahid, as the interceptors would be able to catch up with them, maneuver around them,

11:17and move in for the kill at just the right angles to almost guarantee a successful elimination.

11:22And the benefits don't end there. Given that some Russian cruise missiles travel between 700 and 900

11:28kilometers per hour, it's not beyond the realm of possibility to suggest that high-speed interceptors

11:34could counteract these threats as well, especially if the technology can be taken even further,

11:39as quantum systems engineers believe. Interceptors wouldn't necessarily need to fly significantly

11:44faster than these missiles to intercept them. Since they're much larger than drones, they're easy to

11:49spot on radar systems. Ukraine could rely on its radar coverage to detect missiles in advance,

11:56then launch drones ahead of them, ready and waiting to collide with their targets. The challenge would

12:00then become one related to positioning, rather than speed, and if Ukraine could solve that, it could

12:06reach a point where it's reliably taking out multi-million dollar cruise missiles using drones

12:10that cost a few thousand to make. Taking this concept further, if the technology improves to a

12:15reasonable degree, Ukraine could even eventually have interceptor drones that are fast and agile

12:20enough to take out the most rapid of enemy assets, fighter jets. Russia's best jets easily break the

12:26sound barrier, with the Su-57 able to reach a top speed of Mach 2, approximately 1,320 miles per

12:33hour,

12:34or 2,135 kilometers per hour. That's far faster than the apex record hunter, which simply wouldn't be

12:41fast enough to tail chase or catch up with a jet that's already traveling at supersonic speed.

12:46But it's not impossible to imagine a scenario in which Ukraine could prepare small ambush swarms of

12:52interceptors in areas that jets are heading towards, relying on positioning and geometry to

12:57successfully strike them. That's unlikely to happen anytime soon with the current technology,

13:01but it's a potential long-term benefit. Thinking more short-term, however, it's easy to see how

13:07quantum systems technologies could continue to shape Ukraine's defense doctrine moving forward.

13:12Kyiv has already made clear that its focus has to be on affordability. It doesn't have the funds or

13:17resources to make missiles at the same rate as Russia, and it doesn't want to waste expensive assets

13:22taking out comparatively cheap drones. It understands that money is arguably the most important resource

13:28in this war, and it knows that its only way of winning is to maintain the cost-effective approach

13:33that has allowed it to survive this long, while also doing everything in its power to make the

13:37conflict as expensive as possible for the Kremlin. This is why Ukraine has always strived to find the

13:43cheapest possible ways to intercept the enemy's munitions, like using $1,000 interceptors to take out

13:49$25,000 shahids. The record hunter technology could be the key to take that strategy to the next level.

13:55It would allow Ukraine to not only counteract Russia's cheaper and slower drones, but also

14:01its more advanced jet-powered models, forcing the Kremlin's commanders back to the drawing board

14:05yet again as they continued to waste massive amounts of money on attacks that failed to yield

14:10the desired results. And every successful interception for Ukraine doesn't just mean

14:15that a Russian asset has been wasted. It means so much more. It means that lives have been saved,

14:20buildings have been prevented from turning to rubble, and important pieces of infrastructure,

14:25that might have been destroyed, will instead survive to see another day. Every interception,

14:30using a cheap drone, also represents one expensive missile that Ukraine didn't have to fire,

14:35and over time, those benefits all add up. The more Ukraine can use its interceptor army,

14:41the more missiles it'll be able to keep in store to deal with the biggest and deadliest threats,

14:45like ballistic missiles and fighter jets. This could in time, give Kiev's forces a little bit of

14:50breathing room, as they're able to extend the lifespan and effectiveness of their existing missile

14:55inventories, and buy time until the next batch of PAK-3s, NASAMs or IRAS-Ts arrive from their allies.

15:01Russia, meanwhile, will yet again be left for an increasingly costly problem to solve.

15:06It's already spending more on its aerial attacks by shifting towards greater use of jet drones and

15:11missiles, and it's banking on these expensive bombardments being big enough and destructive enough

15:16to saturate Ukraine's air defenses, destroy its infrastructure and deplete its missile stocks.

15:22Eventually, the Kremlin hopes that this tactic could be what wins the war, but if Ukraine can

15:27roll out high-speed interceptor drones in the near future, that hope will be shattered. At that point,

15:33Russia will suddenly have to go even further, developing even faster drones or using even more

15:38missiles if it wants to deal serious and lasting damage to its enemy. That means even more money spent,

15:44and with the Russian economy in an increasingly perilous position, it's only so far that President

15:49Vladimir Putin can push his country's finances before the whole system falls apart. Of course,

15:55there are a couple of caveats here. Firstly, and most importantly, the Record Hunter is only an

16:00experimental drone and wasn't designed with military applications in mind. Even if we drone's

16:05designers were given full freedom to work with this model, it would still take time and engineering

16:09efforts to integrate guidance systems, carry out payload tests, equip it with electronic warfare

16:14countermeasures and communication systems, and make all of the other changes that would be necessary

16:19to turn the Apex Record Hunter from a demonstrative prototype into an operational weapon. Real combat

16:26conditions are far more complex than controlled test flights too. Thus, the design team could find that

16:32the Record Hunter begins to lose some of its speed and agility as they begin to make their military

16:36modifications. In short, it's not like Ukraine can simply tack on warheads and begin mass production

16:42of these high-speed interceptors overnight. It'll take time. But the technology exists,

16:47and that's the most important part. Breaking the speed record was the first part of the challenge.

16:52The next step is to bring that same speed into the battlefield, and it'll be up to quantum systems

16:57and we drone's expert teams to make that happen. If they're successful, it's no exaggeration to say that

17:03they could change the face of this war forever, improving Ukraine's resilience against mass drone

17:08attacks, helping the country conserve its most expensive assets, and adding yet another fresh

17:13layer to Kyiv's extraordinary air defense architecture. And this is only one of the many ways in which

17:18Ukraine is leveling up its interceptor fleet. It recently unveiled the remarkable Zyrka UAV,

17:24which is the ability to autonomously detect, track and destroy Russian Shahid drones with minimal

17:29human input, and you can learn more about it in this detailed video breakdown. Alternatively,

17:35check out this video to see how Ukraine's middle strike campaign is having a major impact in Crimea,

17:40cutting the Kremlin supply lines and forcing Russian residents and holiday makers to sprint for the

17:46exit as quickly as they can. And finally, don't forget to subscribe to the military show to stay up to

17:52date with the latest news and developments from the Russia-Ukraine war and other major conflicts from around the world.

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