Russia is increasingly using jet strike drones, forcing Ukraine to accelerate the development of new interception measures. According to Yuriy Ihnat, a representative of the Ukrainian Air Force, the number of such drones is rapidly increasing – in July, there were five times more than in June.
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In some cases, jet drones can make up as much as two-thirds of the unmanned aerial vehicles launched per day.
So far, Ukraine has successfully fought slower “Shahed” drones using FPV interceptor drones. However, the new jet versions are much faster. A typical “Shahed” can reach about 185 km/h, while the jet “Geran-4” and “Geran-5” reach approximately 500 and 600 km/h respectively.
Because of this speed, they are much harder to shoot down with FPV interceptor drones or mobile fire groups.
According to Ukrainian intelligence estimates, Russia produces about 3,000 jet strike drones per month. In August, according to GUR, their production already exceeded that of the conventional piston-engine versions.
Meanwhile, Ukraine is also developing next-generation interceptors. One Ukrainian engineer working on the program said that prototypes capable of catching up with jet targets have already been created.
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“It is an engineering problem for which there is an engineering solution,” he said.
A separate direction is the development of indigenous jet interceptors. On August 14, former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov announced tests with devices capable of reaching speeds up to 600 km/h.
And on August 21, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense announced that the first Ukrainian jet interceptor drone “Alexa Spatium” was officially inducted into the armed forces.
As the publication writes, this device can reach high speeds and, if it does not detect a target, can be reused. Besides fighting drones, it can also attack ground targets and helicopters.
Thus, a new technological race is forming in the skies over Ukraine – Russia is developing faster strike drones, while Ukraine is looking for ways to catch up and intercept them mid-air.
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