US unveils new drone interceptor developed by Ukrainian engineer
Photo: SPART launch (Yehor Balytskyi, Thermopylae Aerospace)
The American startup Thermopylae Aerospace, founded by Ukrainian engineer Yehor Balytskyi, successfully demonstrated its SPART interceptor drone for the US Air Force, according to Defence Blog.
Demonstration at Edwards Air Force Base
The tests took place in July at Edwards Air Force Base in California as part of the Game of Drones 26-2 event, which is regularly held by the 412th Test Wing in collaboration with the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA).
According to Balytskyi, a small team from the company conducted a full end-to-end demonstration of SPART—an innovative interceptor platform designed specifically to combat large drones.
"At 412th Test Wing, Edwards Air Force Base, during Game of Drones 26-2, our lean team completed a successful end-to-end demonstration of SPART, a novel interceptor platform designed to counter big drones asymmetrically," Balytskyi says.
Yehor Balytskyi is a self-taught engineer who left Ukraine at age 17 following the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. He founded Thermopylae in June 2025, and by November, the company had raised $1.6 million in pre-seed funding from investors including Naval Ravikant and the Ukraine-focused venture capital fund UA1.
Since then, the team has grown from two to approximately five employees.
Technical specifications and new interceptor advantages
SPART is a foldable quadcopter designed to counter larger drones, particularly Group 2 targets, which include attack drones such as Shahed.
The aircraft uses thermal guidance, reaches speeds of up to 350 km/h, and has a target flight duration of up to 20 minutes; a partial reusability feature allows the interceptor to be recovered if it misses the target.
According to Balytskyi, SPART can be integrated onto unmanned aerial vehicles, ground vehicles, maritime vessels, and manned vehicles as carriers, and the drone itself is being developed with mass production and low cost in mind.
"We built it from the ground up in a very short period of time. Proud of the team for getting us here," the company's founder notes.
Balytskyi also told Jane's that most Western drone interceptors rely on rocket engines and expensive components. As a result, using them against low-cost drones is prohibitively expensive, while manually controlled systems used in Ukraine depend heavily on the skills of a specific operator rather than on a scalable solution.
Thermopylae positions SPART precisely as a cheaper alternative, designed for production and deployment on a much larger scale than existing interceptors.
Game of Drones is a regular testing event conducted by the Experimental Forces of the 412th Test Wing at Edwards Air Force Base in partnership with the US Defense Contract Management Agency.
Russian interceptor drones have complicated the operations of Ukrainian bombers, but the Ukrainian Defense Forces have already found a way to counter them, according to Denys Perch, commander of the 107th Brigade of the Ukrainian Air Force, who noted that Russia was quickly adopting and scaling up the Ukrainian military's tactics thanks to its own state resources.
US Central Command is establishing the first multinational strike drone task force of all types, called Falcon Strike, which will bring together the aerial, surface, and underwater unmanned systems of US partners, marking another step in scaling up the US military's drone capabilities.
