Project Eagle's Merops C-UAS used in Ukraine for over 18 months prior to testing by US, Polish, and Romanian troops

US troops and the AS3 Surveyor interceptor next to the ground control station during training in Poland on 9 November 2025. (US Army )

Ukraine had been using the Merops counter-unmanned aircraft system (C-UAS) for over a year and a half before the US, Polish, and Romanian military personnel trained with the system at a range in southeastern Poland in November, a NATO official told Janes on 20 November.

“You can anticipate that Poland and Romania will be using these systems in the near future against Russian air space incursions,” the NATO official said. At least 20 UASs crossed into Polish airspace in September, which was followed by an incursion into Romania a few days later. At the time, NATO said that Russia “bears full responsibility” for carrying out the violations and dubbed the actions “escalatory” in a statement on 23 September.

Combating Shaheds

The Merops C-UAS consists of a ground control station, pneumatic launcher, and the AS3 Surveyor interceptor, Major Nicholas M Chopp, US Army Europe and Africa Public Affairs, Future Operations chief, told Janes on 20 November.

“Merops is probably one of the most effective C-UASs against Shaheds in Ukraine so far. They've destroyed about USD200 million worth of Shaheds at a cost of about USD15 million worth of interceptors,” Maj Chopp said. He did not go into details on the number of Shahed UASs and specific variants. Maj Chopp added that a Surveyor is around “10% of the cost of a Shahed”.

The Iranian Shahed-136, with the Russian designation Geran-2, was designed for long-range missions. Among the Shahed-136 variants are those equipped with electro-optic (EO) seekers, and the jet-powered version is the Shahed-238 also referred to as Geran-3, according to Janes Weapons: Air Launched.