Steel Eagle ER drone developed in Finland for Ukraine

The Finnish company Insta Group Oy, together with Ukrainian specialists, has developed and presented a new Steel Eagle ER strike drone for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

This was reported on the manufacturer’s website on January 29.

The drone is equipped with special ammunition with ready-made striking elements that explode in the air above the target.

The Steel Eagle ER model is an improvement over the previous version of the Finnish drone, with the ER acronym standing for “extended range.”

The drone is controlled using FPV goggles or a handheld remote control, which displays real-time video from the drone’s camera.

The drone equipment that provides better performance, a longer range, and higher load-carrying capacity is supplied by our Ukrainian partner, who operates in the wider drone ecosystem, explains Tuure Lehtoranta, Vice President of Sales and Customers, Defence at Insta.

The ammunition, patented by the Finnish company, contains an explosive charge weighing about 3.6 kg and more than 3,000 steel or tungsten balls that can hit an area of about 2,000 square meters.

It is emphasized that the strike drone has a long range, although the exact data is not disclosed. It is also resistant to electronic warfare (EW), without which it is now impossible to imagine a modern battlefield.

The drone is primarily designed to destroy infantry. However, the metal balls of the ammunition can pierce the roof of a conventional or lightly armored vehicle from a height of several tens of meters.

The new Steel Eagle ER drone is currently available for the Ukrainian market. However, in the future it will also be exported to the markets of the EU and NATO countries.

Finland is currently preparing a new military aid package for Ukraine. It will be the 27th in a row.

The allocation of the previous tranche of defense support worth €25 million was approved in early December last year.