New Polish jet-powered drone looks a lot like a miniature B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, and there's a good reason why

Poland's new loitering munition borrows stealth aviation's shape for practical battlefield reasons A turbojet gives Gladius 2 a different propulsion approach from earlier Warmate variants The 30kg warhead places Gladius 2 between several established Warmate configurations Polish defense manufacturer

<![CDATA[ <article> <ul><li><strong>Poland's new loitering munition borrows stealth aviation's shape for practical battlefield reasons</strong></li><li><strong>A turbojet gives Gladius 2 a different propulsion approach from earlier Warmate variants</strong></li><li><strong>The 30kg warhead places Gladius 2 between several established Warmate configurations</strong></li></ul><p>Polish defense manufacturer WB Group has revealed a new loitering munition whose flattened, wing-shaped body echoes the American B-2 Spirit bomber.</p><p>Gladius 2, also called Warmate 30, uses that shape mainly to cut down on radar and heat signatures rather than for looks.</p><p>Flying wing designs scatter radar waves more efficiently than boxy airframes, which is exactly why stealth bombers adopted the same silhouette decades ago.</p><h2 id="a-shape-borrowed-from-stealth-aviation-not-aesthetics">A shape borrowed from stealth aviation, not aesthetics</h2><p>The munition runs on a turbojet engine, giving it a faster run toward its objective than earlier electrically powered Warmate versions.</p><p>It carries an interchangeable 30 kg (66 lb) warhead and can launch from a shipping container or a dedicated vehicle.</p><p>WB Group designed the weapon to operate within its wider Gladius reconnaissance strike system rather than as a standalone munition alone.</p><p>That system pairs the FT-5 Łoś reconnaissance <a href="https://www.techradar.com/cameras/drones/best-drone">drone</a> with separate strike effectors, all coordinated through a software platform called Topaz.</p><p>This arrangement lets one operator locate an objective using the reconnaissance aircraft, then destroy it with a separate strike weapon.</p><p>According to the company, it started developing this newer variant back in September 2022, drawing lessons from the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.</p><h2 id="poland-is-already-investing-heavily-in-the-drone-family">Poland is already investing heavily in the drone family</h2><p>The new weapon arrives as Poland continues spending heavily on domestically produced unmanned systems and loitering munitions.</p><p>In May 2026, Poland's Armaments Agency signed agreements covering more than 400 Warmate systems and nearly 200 FlyEye reconnaissance drones.</p><p>The same contracts included 12 Gladius fire modules, with financing partly supplied through the European Union's SAFE defence lending programme.</p><p>WB Group has not confirmed whether Gladius 2 or Warmate 30 forms part of those existing procurement agreements.</p><p>That distinction matters because the newly shown aircraft could remain a future offering rather than an immediately contracted Polish military system.</p><p>WB Group has previously described several Warmate variants using payload categories, including models associated with 5kg, 20kg, and 50kg warheads.</p><p>Warmate 30 therefore fits between those larger and smaller configurations while carrying a 30kg payload of its own.</p><p>The earlier Warmate 3 reportedly carries a smaller warhead while reaching distances of up to 70km, or 43 miles.</p><p>The original Gladius system has also been offered with earlier electrically powered Warmate variants capable of exceeding 100km, or 62 miles.</p><p>However, those figures should not be treated as specifications for Gladius 2 until WB Group releases its own performance data.</p><p>Whether Gladius 2 performs as well as its shape suggests will remain unclear until WB Group releases actual test figures.</p><p>This bomber simply copies a proven stealth silhouette, which makes practical sense for a country expanding its arsenal under real wartime pressure.</p><p>Via <a href="https://defence-blog.com/poland-unveils-a-new-jet-powered-strike-drone/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Defence Blog</a></p><figure class="van-image-figure inline-layout" data-bordeaux-image-check ><div class='image-full-width-wrapper'><div class='image-widthsetter' style="max-width:676px;"><p class="vanilla-image-block" style="padding-top:31.51%;"><img id="diM9tpwF2Lz85R8q85CT78" name="tr-g_news" alt="Google logo on a black background next to text reading 'Click to follow TechRadar'" src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/diM9tpwF2Lz85R8q85CT78-1920-80.jpg" mos="" align="middle" fullscreen="" width="676" height="213" attribution="" endorsement="" class="inline"></p></div></div></figure> </article> ]]>