V2X Tempest, the vehicle with Longbow missiles used by Ukraine to shoot down drones

Drones are revolutionizing the military field. Attack drones also pose a growing challenge to defense systems.

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As we are seeing in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, relatively cheap drones, many of them of Iranian origin, are being used by the invaders to attack the civilian population, following a strategy of attrition already used by the terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah, supported by Iran, against the State of Israel: launching massive attacks to saturate defenses and force those attacked to spend large sums of money to shoot them down.

In response to this strategy, cheaper options than traditional air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles are emerging, as well as high-mobility systems that allow these drones to be shot down and quickly disappear from the area of ​​operations to avoid enemy counterattacks. In October 2025, the American company V2X presented the Tempest, a light four-wheeled vehicle, apparently based on the Can-Am Maverick X3, equipped with two AGM-114L Hellfire Longbow missiles and a search radar, which is controlled from the passenger seat on the front right of the vehicle.

The AGM-114L is a radar-equipped version of the AGM-114 Hellfire missile. It was developed to provide a "fire-and-forget" weapons system for the AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopter, whose prototype was unveiled in 1992 (earlier versions of the Hellfire used infrared guidance, requiring the target to be locked onto until impact). The AGM-114L has a range of 8,000 meters and entered serial production in 1995. A few years ago, it was identified as a useful tool for shooting down drones. Its AGM-114L-7 variant is designed to shoot down unmanned aerial vehicles, for which it features a programmable proximity fuse.

A few days ago, the Ukrainian website Militarnyi.com reported that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have put this air defense system into service, noting that the Tempest is designed to shoot down enemy drones, helicopters, and aircraft flying at low altitudes in all weather conditions.

Today, the Ukrainian Air Force showcased this vehicle in action in a video posted on its YouTube channel. The video indicates that the Ukrainian unit equipped with these vehicles has already shot down 21 Iranian Shahed drones used by Russia (the video is in Ukrainian; you can activate automatic English subtitles in the player's bottom bar.)

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Images: Ukrainian Air Force.