The Kreuger from the Swedish company Nordic Air Defence is a small anti-drone missile, but how unique is this solution and how much could such a product cost?
With the advent of relatively inexpensive long-range attack drones like the “Shahed” on the battlefield, numerous new means of combating this threat have emerged globally, significantly cheaper than traditional anti-aircraft missiles or air-to-air missiles. Among these tools, a class of truly miniature and relatively inexpensive missiles can be singled out, effectively pioneered by the Estonian company Frankenburg Technologies, which created the incredibly tiny Mark I mini-missile, which will be (or is already being) supplied to Ukraine.
Recently, The Telegraph published a report on a similar miniature anti-drone missile sample with a rather sensational headline, stating that “this tiny missile could solve Europe’s defense crisis” and could “save NATO from Russia” – it refers to a missile named Kreuger developed by the Swedish defense startup Nordic Air Defence (NAD), founded in 2023, whose activities are focused on drone defense solutions.
Journalists from the publication managed to attend the tests of this missile, which took place “at a secret location in Sweden” – during the tests, the missile approached a drone mockup, flew past it to adjust its course, and on the second attempt, successfully hit the designated target.
Not much information is revealed about the missile itself in the report – its size is compared to a shoebox “with a flimsy propeller,” and the company enthusiastically calls its Kreuger missile a “flying mobile phone with a warhead” – likely because this missile is equipped with artificial intelligence that tracks enemy drones.
The main advantage of the Kreuger missile, as claimed, is expected to be its cost – according to preliminary data, it is around $10,000 per unit. This is still more expensive than, for example, classic Ukrainian anti-drone systems, but it may be cheaper than other Western counterparts – for instance, the price of an interceptor drone from the already known Merops system could be 1.5 times higher, reaching $15,000.
From the perspective of Defense Express, we note that creating a missile is one thing, but for such anti-drone systems, successful operation in real combat, as well as scaling up production, is also important (the company previously emphasized). It is noted that the Kreuger is created without the involvement of Chinese-made components.
Also, it is unlikely that the Kreuger can become the sole “game-changer” against drone attacks by Russians or any other country – the missile or anti-drone system alone is not an ultimate solution against the threat, but rather a component of a comprehensive solution that also includes threat detection systems, etc.
By the way, information about the existence of Kreuger interceptors became known last year, and at that time it was reported that the company planned to test them in Ukraine, with deliveries expected in the winter, although as of today, it is unknown whether our Defense Forces have received them and what the results of their use in real combat conditions might be.