Germany's new kinetic vehicle: Ukraine's ace against drones
The list of German military aid for Ukraine includes a mysterious weapon. The Kinetic Defence Vehicle, developed by Diehl Defence, is not listed among the equipment traditionally produced by this company. What exactly has Ukraine received, and what are the capabilities of this weapon?
Germany provides detailed information about its military assistance to Ukraine, regularly publishing an updated list of equipment transferred and planned for transfer.
Alongside Leopard 2 and Leopard 1 tanks, and a significant number of various vehicles—from infantry fighting vehicles to armored personnel carriers to MRAP mine-resistant vehicles—the list also includes equipment called the Kinetic Defence Vehicle.
As reported by the Ukrainian service Militarny, this name refers to a new weapon developed by Diehl Defence. The existence of this equipment was first revealed in February 2024 at the Enforce TAC trade show.
New equipment for drone hunters
The Kinetic Defence Vehicle is a light vehicle based on the Enok MBB (the military version of the Mercedes G-Class), equipped with an optoelectronic head developed by Diehl, an American Echodyne radar, and a Slinger combat module, which is a variant of the EOS R400 module. Several of these have already been purchased by Ukraine.
The EOS R400 is armed with a multi-barrel machine gun of 7.62x51 mm caliber (it can optionally be equipped with a heavy machine gun of 12.7 mm caliber, a 30 mm cannon, an anti-tank guided missile launcher, or a 40 mm grenade launcher). With this equipment, the Kinetic Defence Vehicle becomes a light, highly mobile, specialized drone hunter.
Although the Kinetic Defence Vehicle is equipped with radar, Ukrainian sources emphasize the capabilities of Diehl's optoelectronic head. This completely passive operating equipment can detect and track a drone the size of the popular Phantom 4 model from a distance of half a mile, and it can also engage the drone from such a distance using the machine gun.
