Key Points
- Qognifly plans to produce 2,000 to 3,000 STUD interceptor drones monthly in Bucharest by summer, with the factory already open.
- The STUD drone weighs a few kilograms, costs a few thousand dollars, and uses radar to intercept Shahed UAVs from over 20 kilometers.
A Romanian deep-tech company is preparing to mass-produce a lightweight interceptor drone in Bucharest capable of destroying Russian Shahed kamikaze Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, with monthly output projected to reach between 2,000 and 3,000 units by summer.
The STUD drone, presented by American defense startup XDOWN and developed in partnership with Qognifly, is designed as a low-cost, multi-role platform built specifically to take down enemy unmanned aerial vehicles. The Bucharest factory is already open, and serial production is set to begin within months.
Qognifly brings more than 15 years of unmanned aviation experience to the program, with a portfolio spanning helicopters, heavy multi-rotor aircraft, reconnaissance platforms, and aerial target drones used in air defense training. That underpins the STUD’s design philosophy — a system compact enough to deploy from nearly any platform, yet capable enough to engage one of the most widely used weapons in Russia’s drone arsenal.
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Anton Danici, co-founder and CTO of Qognifly Systems, described the interceptor’s core appeal in straightforward terms: the drone weighs just a few kilograms, carries four rotors, and is built to destroy any Shahed it is directed against.
The price point is a deliberate part of the concept. Each STUD interceptor costs a few thousand dollars — a fraction of the cost of a missile-based intercept — making it economically viable to field in large numbers against mass drone attacks. Russia has repeatedly launched waves of dozens or even hundreds of Shaheds in a single night, and the arithmetic of air defense has become as important as the technology itself. A system that can be produced at volume in Bucharest and deployed at low cost per intercept directly addresses that equation.
Flexibility in deployment is one of the platform’s defining characteristics. Danici outlined a range of launch options that set the STUD apart from conventional interceptor systems.
“It can be launched in any way you can imagine. It can take off on its own, it can be thrown and triggered automatically, it can be dropped from above and triggered automatically, it can be launched from a pneumatic tube, it can even be launched as a projectile from aboard an aircraft,” he said.
That breadth of launch compatibility means the STUD can be integrated into ground vehicles, fixed installations, naval platforms, or manned aircraft without requiring dedicated launcher infrastructure.
Once airborne, the interceptor does not operate independently. The STUD receives targeting data from a modern radar system that feeds it real-time information about the location and trajectory of the incoming threat. When the radar locks onto a target, the drone moves to intercept.
Ion Mocanu,co-Founder and CEO of Qognifly Systems, detailed the radar’s detection envelope: “With a single unit we can detect small drones the size of a mobile phone from at least 2 kilometers, up to drones the size of a Shahed from over 20 kilometers”.
That detection range provides meaningful reaction time — enough for the interceptor to be launched, acquire the target, and complete an intercept before a Shahed reaches its intended strike point.
The STUD is classified as a multi-role platform. Mission designations presented by XDOWN include intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; hard strike; counter-UAS; and electronic warfare. Additional mission packages cover counter-unmanned ground vehicle operations, counter-unmanned surface vessel roles, and anti-personnel applications. The drone is designed to accept different payloads depending on the mission, meaning the same airframe can be reconfigured for tasks beyond pure interception. For the Bucharest production line, however, the counter-Shahed interceptor role is the immediate operational priority.
Qognifly has reported that the companies are already delivering surveillance and cargo drones to customers in Ukraine and the Middle East, establishing a baseline of operational experience before the interceptor line reaches full output. The Bucharest facility represents an expansion of that footprint — moving from delivery of existing platforms to domestic serial production of a new system on European soil. Producing interceptors inside a NATO member state simplifies export logistics, reduces supply chain exposure, and positions the program for potential procurement by European defense customers facing similar drone threats.
