Direct proof of use
Defense News reported on September 11, 2025 that Threod Systems' CATA pneumatic launchers were being used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces during Russia's full-scale invasion. The report quoted Threod chief commercial officer Ranno Pajuri saying Ukrainian forces had used the launchers extensively since the war's 2022 full-scale phase and that long-range drone strikes inside Russia were likely launched with Threod equipment.
Defense Express reported the same DSEI interview context and stated that the Armed Forces of Ukraine used CATA-type launchers from Estonia's Threod Systems to launch long-range strike drones. Its account identified the system as a CATA launcher, placed Ukrainian operation from 2022 onward, and tied the launcher role to long-range strike missions.
Sources: Defense News Threod CATA Ukraine, Defense Express CATA Ukraine
Documented timeline
The public record does not provide a dated list of individual CATA-assisted strikes. The cited sources instead establish a service window and role: Ukrainian units began operating CATA launchers after the February 2022 escalation, and Threod publicly discussed that wartime use at the DSEI UK exhibition held September 9-12, 2025.
By September 2025, Defense News described Threod as expanding its drone-launcher and unmanned-aircraft range using combat experience from Ukraine. Defense Express then summarized the launcher as part of Ukraine's long-range drone strike ecosystem, with a two-operator remote-control setup and rapid launch cycle relevant to repeated drone launches.
Sources: Defense News Threod CATA Ukraine, Defense Express CATA Ukraine, Cata B pneumatic launcher system
Role in the conflict
In this conflict record, the catapult launch system is a support weapon rather than the munition or air vehicle that hits the target. The documented role is launching fixed-wing long-range strike UAVs for Ukraine, giving larger runway-independent drones a repeatable launch method before cross-border or deep-strike missions.
Threod's Cata B product page describes a pneumatic launcher for one-way effectors and target drones with up to 400 kg maximum takeoff weight and 55 m/s launch speed. Those manufacturer specifications support the launcher-family identity and explain why open reporting links CATA launchers to larger long-range UAVs, while the conflict-use claim rests on Defense News and Defense Express tying Ukrainian wartime use to the CATA system.
Sources: Defense News Threod CATA Ukraine, Defense Express CATA Ukraine, Cata B pneumatic launcher system
