October 2, 2025. MBF Group, a company listed on the NewConnect market specializing incommodity trading and developing its activities in the defense technology sector, announced the signing oftwo key annexes to the consortium agreement with Squadron Sp. z o.o. and the Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski Polish Industrial Lobby. These documents regulate the rules for financing and sharing benefits within the Iryda Plus project and launch the financing of the first stage of its implementation.
Images: MBF Group
Annex 1 specifies the detailed rules for the distribution of revenues and profits, the participation of investors in subsequent stages, and the rules regarding intellectual property. It has been agreed that all results of thework (Foreground IP) will be allocated to the consortium members in the following proportions: MBF Group– 47.5%, Squadron – 47.5%, PLP – 5%. As the leader of the consortium, the issuer is the only entity authorized to conduct talks with investors, which ensures consistency and uniform representation vis-à-visthe capital environment. The document also regulates revenues from commercialization, including sales of the Iryda Plus system, licenses, grants, subsidies, simulators, and training.
Appendix 2 concerns the financing of the first stage of the project, which aims to build a demonstrator of the Iryda Plus technology. The stage is scheduled to be completed on April 30, 2026, when a public presentation will take place. The demonstrator will include a complete demonstration model with a length and wingspan of approximately 3 meters, equipped with a 7.62 mm caliber gun gondola, a movable observation module, a navigation light system, and integration with virtual simulation, which will allow for the recreation of realistic combat scenarios with air targets. The whole will be complemented by a transport container, enabling the use of the demonstrator at trade fairs, shows, and tests.
The MBF Group emphasizes that the signing of both annexes is an important step towards the commercialization of the Iryda Plus system – Europe’s first C-UAS (hard-kill) fighter drone designed to combat swarms of drones and loitering munitions. Work on a fully functional prototype is scheduled to be completed at the turn of 2026 and 2027, which will pave the way for the system to be offered for sale and prepared for serial production.
According to information from MBF Group, the technical assumptions of Iryda Plus include:
- top/chase speed: 250-280 km/h,
- cruising/patrol speed: 180-200 km/h,
- minimum speed: 50-60 km/h,
- flight duration: 8-10 hours,
- payload capacity: 15-20 kg,
- Armament: carbine cal. 7.62 mm, in a 360° rotating gondola,
- TAS (Target-Aim-Shot) system supported by artificial intelligence.
One of the most important strengths of the Iryda Plus project is its economy. Today, missiles costing more than $1 million per unit are often used to shoot down a low-cost drone worth a few thousand dollars. Sometimes combat aircraft such as F-16s and F-35s are pitted against imitation drones, generating huge operational and logistical costs and accident risks for pilots. Iryda Plus changes this logic – instead of straining budgets and consuming strategic resources, it offers a solution that is fast, efficient and, above all, many times cheaper to operate. This is an argument that makes the project attractive not only to the military, but also to taxpayers and policymakers.
Examples from the war in Ukraine perfectly illustrate this disparity: low-cost Russian airstrikes and drones-kamikazes-appear en masse, while their combat is sometimes carried out with much more expensive missiles and defense systems. Analyses and reports indicate that the cost of a single loitering-munition (of the Shahed/Geran variety, for example) is on the order of tens of thousands of dollars, while the cost of a missile or launcher used against it can reach hundreds of thousands or even more than a million dollars – compounding the economic argument for solutions such as Iryda Plus.
The project was first presented at MSPO in Kielce in 2023. The trade show mock-up generated a lot of interest and confirmed the potential of the concept. In 2024, it was presented at MSPO to Ukrainian delegates and confirmed its need for existence. Since then, development has accelerated – from tactical studies, simulations, preliminary design, to the final selection of weapons and creation of a conceptual design.
The development of Iryda Plus provides for several stages of implementation (Work Packages):
- WP1: design and construction of a shooting device with a mockup of a carbine,
- WP2: integration of gondola with control station and computer simulation (three combat scenarios),
- WP3: design and construction of a mock-up airframe with the nacelle installed,
- WP4: design and construction of a transportation container.
Each stage culminates in a milestone – from the finished nacelle, to simulations, to a full model of the airframe.
In September 2025. An agreement was signed between MBF Group and the company Squadron (ASE Group). The document deals with the development and deployment of unmanned systems, including combat and anti-drone systems. They also agreed on all terms of non-denial, confidentiality and terms of cooperation for future planned projects.
The core of the system is an unmanned fighter aircraft capable of intercepting and destroying drones in the air. The solution provides for modular shooting nacelles, ground control stations and training simulators. In the future, Iryda Plus may create new aviation units within the army’s structures.
More information: Iryda Plus: A new dimension in drone defense
Based on press release