Program · ARGUS-1
Concept · Rev 1.0
Defensive counter-UAS · Replicator-aligned · NDAA

Stop a $20K Shahed
with a $2K interceptor.

ARGUS-1 is an 8-inch radar-equipped autonomous interceptor for Shahed-class loitering munitions. Forward-looking 77 GHz mmWave radar finds the target at 1–2 km. Jetson Orin Nano closes the loop. Kinetic kill terminal. Cost-per-kill: 1/1,500th of a Patriot.

What radar can fly? Cost math JET-ARCHER baseline →
Engagement envelope Concept
1–2km
detection range
vs Shahed-class RCS ~1 m²
~30s
time-to-intercept
at 100 m/s closing
~2.8kg
AUW
8-inch carbon airframe
$2K
unit cost @ 1k
incl. radar + Jetson + airframe

01 · The threat

The Shahed 136 is the most cost-effective weapon in modern war.

Iranian-origin one-way attack drone, copied by Russia as Geran-2. Launched in swarms of 50–200 against Ukrainian energy and civilian infrastructure. Composite airframe. 50 hp piston engine. 100 knots cruise. 1,500 km range. Each one costs ~$20K to manufacture. Each Patriot interceptor used to shoot it down costs ~$4M.

The math doesn't work. Ukraine is now shooting down Shaheds with mobile gun teams firing $5 7.62×54R rounds out of the bed of pickup trucks — because anything is cheaper than firing a missile. ARGUS-1 is the airborne extension of that doctrine.

Shahed 136 / Geran-2 · public-source spec
Wingspan2.5 m (delta-wing)
Length3.5 m
All-up mass~200 kg (50 kg warhead)
Cruise speed185 km/h (100 kts) · max ~220 km/h
Cruise altitude50–4,000 m · typically 50–200 m AGL
Range1,500–2,000 km
EngineMD550 50 hp 4-cyl piston (distinctive moped buzz)
Radar cross-section~0.5–1.0 m² (small-bizjet-class)
GuidanceINS + GLONASS · datalink optional
Unit cost (manuf.)~$20,000
Key for radar detection: RCS ~1 m² makes it visible to a 77 GHz mmWave radar at ~1–2 km in the absence of clutter — comparable to an automotive radar detecting a small car. Low cruise altitude puts ground clutter on the same beam, which is the real engineering challenge.

02 · Cost-exchange math

A single Patriot pays for 200 ARGUS units.

The defender always wants the cost-per-kill below the attacker's cost-per-shot. Today the West is on the wrong side of that math by 200:1. ARGUS-1 inverts it.

COST-PER-KILL · LOG SCALE ARGUS-1 (this program) $2K 7.62×54R · pickup gun teams (UA field) $5 Shahed 136 (target · attacker cost) $20K NASAMS / IRIS-T missile $500K Patriot PAC-3 MSE $4M $1K $10K $100K $1M $10M+
Cost-per-engagement, log scale. ARGUS sits 10× below the attacker's cost — the right side of the math.

03 · What radar can fly on a drone

Six classes worth flying. One of them is right for ARGUS.

A drone-flyable radar must clear three bars: under 250 g, under 25 W, range >500 m on a small target. Most radars miss on at least one. The shortlist is below — survey first, recommendation after.

Class Example Freq Mass Range Price Verdict
Automotive 77 GHz MIMO PICK TI AWR2944, Bosch MRR1+, Continental ARS540 76–81 GHz 80–200 g 1–2 km* $400–$2K Mass-produced. 4D point cloud. Fits.
Drone-specific phased array Echodyne EchoFlight 24 GHz ~1,500 g 2–3 km ~$70K Best perf · too heavy · too expensive at scale
24 GHz legacy automotive Acconeer A1, NXP TEF810x 24 GHz 30–80 g 200–500 m $100–$400 Cheap · range marginal vs Shahed
Single-chip 60 GHz Infineon BGT60TR13C, Vayyar 60 60 GHz 5 g chip 5–30 m $30 chip Terminal proximity fuze · not air-search
UWB pulse radar Novelda XeThru, TI DCA1000 6–8 GHz 80–150 g 50–100 m $1–2K Indoor / through-wall · not for air targets
Miniature ESA panel (S/X band) DRS, Reutech RSR-210N 2–10 GHz 5–15 kg 5–20 km $$$$$$ Ground / large UAS class · too heavy here
* Range numbers are for an Shahed-class target (RCS ~1 m²) in clean-air conditions. Real-world range halves under ground clutter and weather.
Recommended May 2026 catalog

Texas Instruments AWR2944 4×4 MIMO cascade

4 transmitters × 4 receivers gives 16 virtual channels — enough angular resolution to separate a Shahed from ground clutter at 1+ km. 4D output: range, velocity, azimuth, elevation. Streams point cloud over CAN-FD or Ethernet directly to the Jetson. NDAA-compliant (TI is US-headquartered).

Mass
~80 g
Power
5–7 W
FoV (az × el)
±60° × ±20°
Update rate
20 Hz

04 · Mission profile

Loiter. Detect. Close. Kill.

ARGUS-1 patrols a 5×5 km box at 100 m AGL. When the radar paints a Shahed-class signature inside the engagement zone, the autopilot turns to the bearing and accelerates. Terminal acquisition switches to EO/IR for final guidance. Kinetic kill — the airframe is the warhead.

ENGAGEMENT TIMELINE · TOP-DOWN 100 m AGL · loiter pattern SHAHED · 50 m/s target track ARGUS · loiter 25 m/s DETECT radar paints @ 1.5 km CLOSE turn + accelerate to 50 m/s KILL ~30 s from detect · closing 75 m/s ARGUS path · 1.6 km traveled
Phase 1 · Loiter
Patrol box
5 × 5 km racetrack pattern, 100 m AGL, 25 m/s. Radar fwd-sweep at 20 Hz. Endurance ~25 min on 6S 4000 mAh.
Phase 2 · Detect
Radar lock
Doppler signature + RCS gates the target. Shahed's 50 hp piston produces distinctive ~30 m/s closing-rate vector vs ground clutter.
Phase 3 · Close
Intercept geometry
Jetson computes lead-pursuit waypoint. Throttle to 50 m/s. Radar provides update at 20 Hz for course corrections.
Phase 4 · Kill
Terminal kinetic
Within 50 m, EO/IR YOLO classifier takes over. Closing >75 m/s. Direct collision — airframe + battery is the warhead.

05 · System architecture

Radar in front. Jetson in the middle. Kamikaze body behind.

ARGUS-1 reuses the JET-ARCHER-1 compute payload (Jetson Orin Nano Super 8GB on a 74×46 mm custom carrier). Forward addition: the radar module on its own gimbal-less nose mount. Everything else is commodity FPV airframe.

SENSORS · forward-mounted 77 GHz mmWave radar TI AWR2944 · 4×4 MIMO Ethernet · 20 Hz · 80 g EO / IR camera Arducam IMX477 + FLIR Lepton CSI-2 · 30 g Acoustic listener MEMS mic array (opt) Shahed engine signature COMPUTE · JET-ARCHER carrier (reused) NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano Super 8GB 67 TOPS · radar CFAR + YOLO + intercept solver Custom carrier PCB 74 × 46 mm · 4-layer NVMe 256 GB flight log + mission cache FLIGHT + EFFECTOR · commodity NDAA Flight controller Pixhawk 6X mini · PX4 MAVLink to Jetson Propulsion 4× T-Motor F90 + 8" props 60 A 4-in-1 ESC · 6S Kinetic effector Airframe-as-warhead · 2.8 kg @ 50 m/s Optional 200g shaped charge (v2) point cloud + frame + audio MAVLink setpoints

06 · Bill of materials

~$2,400 single unit. ~$1,950 at 1,000.

All NDAA-sourceable. Compute payload reused from JET-ARCHER-1 (no new EE work). Radar dominates BOM cost; the rest is commodity FPV.

Subsystem Item Mass $ qty 1 $ qty 1000
SensorTI AWR2944 mmWave radar EVM80 g$650$420
Arducam IMX477 + FLIR Lepton 3.530 g$320$210
ComputeJET-ARCHER carrier (SOM + carrier + NVMe)120 g$320$180
FCHolybro Pixhawk 6X mini · PX415 g$220$160
Airframe8" carbon frame + arms (iFlight Defender 25 class)220 g$95$58
4× T-Motor F90 1300KV motors160 g$140$85
T-Motor F55A Pro II 4-in-1 ESC 6S35 g$95$58
8" props × 4 (HQProp poly)25 g$14$9
Power6S 4000 mAh LiPo (Tattu R-Line)580 g$78$48
CommsELRS LR 915 MHz RX + Doodle Labs RM-245535 g$340$240
Walksnail Avatar HD VTX12 g$180$115
MiscWiring, XT60, standoffs, TPU iso, assembly40 g$60$35
TOTAL single-unit reference build ~2,750 g (incl. props) ~$2,512 ~$1,618

Excludes: optional shaped charge ($200), launcher / case ($50/unit at 1000), GSE.

07 · Known risks

Honest about what doesn't work yet.

Risk 01 · Ground clutter
Shahed flies low
Shahed cruise altitude (50–200 m AGL) puts targets on the same beam as ground returns. 77 GHz radar at 100 m AGL sees the whole near field as clutter unless the Doppler filter is excellent. Mitigation: ARGUS climbs to 200 m AGL during search, dives during intercept — gets the target on a clean-sky angle.
Risk 02 · Endurance
25-min loiter is short
6S 4000 mAh gives ~25 min on a 2.8 kg airframe. A Shahed swarm crossing the FEBA can take 1–2 hours to clear. Mitigation: ARGUS is launched in waves, multiple per defended sector. Each unit is one engagement.
Risk 03 · EW resistance
Shahed crosses jammed sky
ARGUS uses ELRS (915 MHz) + Walksnail (5.8 GHz) which are not military-hardened against jammers. Mitigation: Doodle Labs RM-2455 mesh-radio adds AES-256 + frequency-hopping. Autonomy-mode runs without C2 link entirely — Jetson + radar + FC operate fully offline once launched.
Risk 04 · Kinetic kill geometry
Direct collision is hard
Shahed at 50 m/s + ARGUS at 50 m/s = 100 m/s closure. Terminal trajectory needs sub-meter precision at 1 ms reaction. Mitigation: Optional 200 g shaped-charge warhead with 60 GHz proximity fuze (Infineon BGT60) — fires at 5 m to compensate for last-second guidance error.
Builds on JET-ARCHER-1

Same carrier. New nose.
Add radar + EO/IR.

The Jetson + carrier work from JET-ARCHER-1 ports directly. ARGUS-1 adds the radar nose, FLIR Lepton, and an 8" airframe. Estimated $6K parts + 6 weeks from JET-ARCHER bring-up to first ARGUS hover with radar in the loop.

Greenlight ARGUS prototype See JET-ARCHER baseline AEGIS evasion (related program)
01
Radar bench bring-up
AWR2944 → Jetson Ethernet · CFAR + RANSAC tracking
~2 wk
02
8" frame + Jetson integration
JET-ARCHER carrier mounts above FC stack
~1 wk
03
Tethered radar-tracked target
DJI Mavic or balsa-foam Shahed surrogate
~2 wk
04
Untethered intercept (safe range)
Class-G airspace, target drone surrogate
~1 wk