Ukrainian drones to deploy synthetic aperture radar from Harmattan AI

It appears that French company Harmattan AI is set to provide its synthetic aperture radar to Ukraine. The system can be deployed on relatively small drones allowing for more targeting flexibility. 

By Sam Cranny-Evans, editor of Calibre Defence. Published on February 20, 2026. 

Harmattan AI is set to provide its synthetic aperture radar (SAR) to Ukraine, according to French news outlets. Speaking to Le Grand Continent on February 15, Mouad M’Ghari, the CEO of the start-up, indicated that the company’s Sahara SAR will be deployed to Ukraine.

“We’ve developed a sensor that’s unique in the world: an imaging radar for drones weighing less than 150 kilograms. This system will be incorporated into Ukrainian systems and deployed in Ukraine,” M’Ghari said. He is understood to be referring to Sahara, the SAR produced by Harmattan AI. 

The Sahara system is capable of producing 25 cm imagery at a range of 2 km, extending to a resolution of 1.2 metres at 10 km. This means that each pixel on the user’s screen would represent 25 cm of terrain that has been imaged. This is often enough detail to tell vehicles apart and determine the lay of the land. Sahara also weighs in at 2.5 kg so that it is light enough to be carried by relatively small drones. 

But it is not the only system in this field. Israel’s IAI has also developed the ELM-2058 tactical SAR. ELM-2058 also comes in at 2.5 kg and can be held in the palm of your hand. IMSAR produces the NSP-2, weighing 2.1 kg and providing 0.3 m resolution at 3.9 km. 

The main differentiator is perhaps the Harmattan artificial intelligence, which is used for processing. SAR imagery can be notoriously difficult to interpret, but AI has shown good results in understanding it. Harmattan deploys AI that processes the imagery on the drone, which would help real time targeting. 

Ukrainian news outlet Militarnyi also picked up on M’Ghari’s interview and noted that Harmattan AI has an agreement with Skyeton. This could indicate that the Raybird drone is one of the potential recipients for the Sahara SAR.

• Skyeton and Prevail Partners Form Drone Joint Venture – Calibre Defence
• ICEYE adds 25 cm SAR satellites to its constellation – Calibre Defence

The system should improve targeting in different weather conditions and at night. The Ukrainians have been using satellite SAR from ICEYE for a lot of long-range targeting, so it will not be conceptually new to them. If it proves survivable and available in enough numbers at the frontline, it could increase the ability to find and strike hidden targets, however.

Calibre comment: Some balance is needed 

Harmattan AI’s contributions to Ukraine are certainly welcome, but M’Ghari drew on a number of examples in his interview that are worth discussing and adding some balance to. He referred multiple times to current systems, mentioning the MQ-9 Reaper by name as well as the West’s preference for technological superiority. He also states that there is a need for mass production and that mass production wins big wars, not technological superiority. 

There are a few things here worth examining. The first is highly pedantic: Very few people inside NATO would expect things like an MQ-9 to survive long in a war with Russia. MQ-9s come from an era where airspace was very permissive and they could be flown with ease. The current push is for attritable drones designed to pave the way for crewed assets. 

• The Russian Aerospace Forces and deterrence – Calibre Defence
• Ukraine intel: Russia has 250 of the Iskander ballistic missile in stock 

Secondly, few would dispute that dominance in a large scale war comes from industrial production. But it’s not as though western defence industry cannot adapt and do so at scale. The MRAP programme for Iraq and Afghanistan produced thousands of vehicles in a matter of months. There was constant innovation and adaptation to the IED threat and the different technologies that were used. 

The catch is that maintaining the capacity for mass production is incredibly expensive and not at all palatable outside of war. Even Russia, which has always favoured a reasonable balance of technological capability with mass, was not able to mass produce tanks or ammunition in 2022. This is not to say that the West does not need to increase its production capacity. But it is important to remember where NATO’s deterrence comes from: Collective defence, and technological superiority. An entire service of Russia’s armed forces is dedicated to repelling massed aerospace attacks, that should tell us something. 

The lead image shows an image from the Sahara SAR. Credit: Harmattan AI.