Poland’s WB Group unveils Warmate 30, latest in drone recon/strike system

KIELCE — Polish defense firm WB Group this week unveiled its newest UAV, a jet-powered strike drone that it’s calling Warmate 30.

According to WB Group, “the Warmate 30 is classified as a loitering munition system designed to detect and engage high-value, time-sensitive targets at long range, with ability to [fully integrate] with the Gladius reconnaissance-strike system and the Topaz command system ensures continuous data exchange between platforms during real-time combat operations.”

Gladius is a WB Group-developed system designed to be used in battery formations and “include various types of unmanned aerial vehicles launched from [ground] vehicles equipped with a universal launcher” or a towed launcher.

According to data publicly released this June by Lt. Gen. Sławomir Owczarek, First Deputy General Commander of the Armed Forces, four Gladius battery-level fire modules have been delivered to the Polish Army. This May WB Group signed a contract with the Poland’s MND Armament Agency for 12 additional battery-level fire modules for unmanned reconnaissance and strike systems, with the delivery of three modules in 2028, and six modules in 2029.

Piotr Wojciechowski, WB Group CEO, said that while Gladius is attracting interest from other NATO nations, “certain solutions implemented in the system will only be available in the version for the Polish Armed Forces.” Wojciechowski also stressed that the “Gladius offered to export customers differs from the one offered to the Polish Army, if only due to the specific requirements of other potential users.”

Warmate 30, capable of carrying a 30kg warhead, is the latest in a family of Warmate unmanned systems, including the smaller Warmate 5 loitering munition and the Warmate TL-R recon drone. (WB Group has also referred to the drone as the Gladius 2, which can also refer to an upgraded version of the larger unmanned recon/strike system.)

According to the company, the Warmate 30 airframe’s aerodynamic configuration is a flying wing with flaperons. Its composite structure ensures a reduced radar and thermal signature. Warmate 30 is powered by a Polish-made turbojet engine with a rocket booster, provides high speed 450 kmph (280 mph), cruising speed more than 150 kmph, range approx. 250km and endurance more than an hour. WB Group says Warmate 30 can be operated in attack mode, flying along selected waypoints and loitering over the target.

“Since last year the first few Warmate 30 prototypes have been produced and are being tested and the system will soon be ready for mass production. The UAV unveiling during MSPO is only due to constraints imposed by the main customer for the new system and ongoing testing. It is entering series production. It is currently a finished product,” Wojciechowski during press meeting a few days before MSPO. He added that “various versions of the Gladius 2 are being tested, including UAV with a booster (launching from a launch pad) and without a booster.”

The WB Group is conducting R&D work on additional UAVs — Gladius 3 and Gladius 4 — but Wojciechowski said that “it is too early to reveal further details at this time”. The first of the above, is scheduled for launch in 2027, and its functionalities and features of have been agreed upon with the Polish customer.