Ukraine’s Armed Forces have begun using Tempest air-defense buggies to help protect the country’s skies, a system designed primarily to destroy Russian attack drones. The Ukrainian Air Force released video purporting to show the platform in action.
The clip appears to capture a missile launch from a Tempest during a nighttime Russian strike on Ukraine - what would be the first confirmed use of the new American short-range air-defense buggy in the war. Ukrainian troops are seen engaging what are believed to be Russian attack drones, notably Shahed and Gerbera.
In the footage, a Ukrainian service member with the call sign “Korotun” says the Tempest crew has already destroyed at least 21 Russian drones.
There is little official information about Tempest so far. US company V2X unveiled the system in October 2025 at the AUSA defense expo in Washington. Neither the United States nor Ukraine has formally announced a delivery of the system to the Ukrainian military.
The Tempest platform is manufactured by V2X, a Virginia-based US company that also markets the system to the US military.
Its high mobility and ability to rapidly change position are crucial against drones that can fly at more than 160 km/h, leaving air defenses little time to respond
Tempest is a short-range air-defense platform whose key advantages are high mobility and a low visual profile, making it harder for adversaries to detect. It’s based on a civilian buggy similar to the Can-Am Maverick X3, allowing rapid movement over difficult terrain and operations near the front line. The system is believed to use AGM-114 Hellfire missiles with an active radar seeker to intercept low-flying aerial targets at short range. It can fire two missiles in a salvo; each Hellfire carries a 9 kg warhead, sufficient to destroy various types of UAVs.
