SCATA introduces VARDE, a mobile counter-drone and missile system on its MK1 armoured vehicle, with a global premiere set for February

TLDR

• SCATA introduced VARDE on 6 November, a mobile system to counter drones and subsonic cruise missiles.¹
• SCATA says VARDE picks the most cost-effective response to each threat, from jamming radio links to physical interceptors.¹
• Global premiere is set for SecD-Day in Helsinki on 2 to 3 February 2027.¹

SCATA AB, a Finnish defence technology company based in Jakobstad, introduced VARDE on 6 November as a mobile counter-drone and missile system for protecting infrastructure, critical sites and people.¹ The company says it is built on the armoured SCATA MK1 4x4 that it unveiled at Eurosatory 2026 in Paris.¹ Daily Northern, citing Yle, says VARDE is designed to counter both small and large drones and subsonic cruise missiles, and does not cover ballistic missiles.²

SCATA says radar, day and night cameras, radio listening and ground sensors work together to detect threats, including low-flying drones under trees and building heights.¹ For each detected threat, the system identifies what SCATA calls the most cost-effective response, from disrupting radio links to deploying physical interceptors, so that expensive missiles are kept for threats that need them.¹ The interceptors operate from a separate trailer, which SCATA says keeps the crew apart from the ammunition.¹ Two crew members must agree before any engagement: the commander authorises and the operator fires.¹

Chief executive Viktor Ekman told Yle, as relayed by Daily Northern, that VARDE uses an open command system that can connect to customers' other equipment and to NATO networks, and that jamming a drone's radio link can be used instead of costly missiles when that is enough.² SCATA says it is now presenting VARDE to defence ministries and procurement agencies, with its global premiere at the SecD-Day conference and exhibition at the Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre on 2 to 3 February 2027.¹ The sources give no price, range, interceptor type or customer, and the performance claims are SCATA's own and unverified.¹²

Why it matters: VARDE adds another European vehicle-mounted counter-drone system built around cost-per-engagement, but this is a company announcement with no named customer, price or test results.¹²