WB Group New Warmate Family Unveiled At MSPO 2024
At the MSPO 2024 defense exhibition in Kielce, Poland, WB Group unveiled the latest iteration of its Warmate family of loitering munitions, including the highly anticipated Warmate 50. It was designed as a long-range, kamikaze or one-way drone, the newest Warmate marks a significant leap in capabilities, especially in terms of range and payload capacity. This unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) can carry a 50-kilogram warhead, enabling it to strike targets up to 1,000 kilometers away.
This capability makes it a strategic asset for deep-strike operations, ideal for hitting high-value targets behind enemy lines, inspired in part by lessons from the ongoing Ukraine conflict. Unlike previous models, which allowed for interchangeable payloads, the Warmate 50 is solely dedicated to attack missions, focusing on maximizing combat effectiveness rather than versatility.
Powered by a combustion engine, the Warmate 50 is expected to offer long endurance, although precise specifications on speed and operational duration remain under wraps. Its development reflects a growing trend toward using affordable loitering munitions for sustained, cost-effective strikes against well-defended targets. The main advantage of the system is the ability to oversaturate enemy air defenses and strike the most valuable systems and assets. Such a tactic has been already presented in the ongoing war in Ukraine with many successes on both sides. Warmate enables just that but on a greater scale. With a range of 1,000 kilometers, the drone can easily reach deep inside enemy-controlled terrain and effectively hit logistics, command stations and critical infrastructure.
Additionally, WB Group showcased other notable variants in the Warmate family, including the Warmate 20, with a 20-kilogram payload, and the Warmate TL-R, designed for surveillance. These innovations highlight WB Group’s focus on expanding strike and intelligence-gathering capabilities within their loitering munitions lineup.
The Warmate 50, along with its predecessors, represents a significant advancement in drone warfare, offering an affordable yet highly effective option for long-range precision strikes, drawing comparisons to the Iranian Shahed-136 drone. As WB Group continues to refine this system, it is poised to become a key player in modern battlefield tactics, allowing for precise, unmanned deep-strike operations on a large scale.