Ukrainian company Unwave launches production of Octopus interceptor drones, with its own UAVs in the pipeline

Unwave, a Ukrainian company that develops electronic warfare equipment, has obtained a license to manufacture Octopus interceptor drones. This was reported on 2 February by Militarnyi, citing a company representative. In a conversation with Unwave CEO Yuriy Shelmuk, Defender Media learned why the company decided to produce interceptors, how many it plans to manufacture, and about its plans to release drones of its own design.

According to Shelmuk, Unwave will initially manufacture Octopus drones for pilot schools. The company plans to deliver 100 interceptors by the end of February, with the first batch consisting of 300 units in total. “This is not a commercial venture at the moment; we are making them for free,” adds Shelmuk. In this way, Unwave wants to contribute to the defence against Shahed drones, which are the primary target of Octopus drones.

The company’s website does not yet list any drones among its products, only EW equipment and detectors. For example, at the end of January, it presented the Choven-2 system, designed in the form of a roof-mounted cargo box. At the same time, the CEO explains that the company has its own department that develops drones to improve electronic warfare and electronic protection solutions.

“It turned out that we have a huge base and we are capable of scaling up. To do this, we found additional people with extensive experience in aviation engineering and expanded the department to full-fledged production,” explains Shelmuk. Now the company is on its way to developing and selling its own drones, not just Octopus.

Octopus is an interceptor drone developed by the Ukrainian Security and Defence Forces. It is designed to shoot down Shaheds and other drones of this type. It is capable of operating at night, under jamming conditions and at low altitudes.

Serial production of the drone began in November 2025. At that time, the Ministry of Defence reported that the production technology had been transferred to three manufacturers, with eleven more preparing production lines at that time. In addition to Ukrainian enterprises, the interceptor is manufactured in the United Kingdom under a license agreement.