Air Defense of the Future: Will Ukraine be able to turn drones into a major shield from Russian attacks
The Minister of Defense of Ukraine Denis Shmigal said that Ukraine will soon be able to use at least a thousand drones-interceptors a day to reflect Russian attacks. He announced this on September 18 at a press conference with the Minister of Defense of Poland Vladislav Kosinyak-Kharus in Kiev. Shmigal noted that Russia is able to use up to 800 drones per night, so Ukraine seeks to have at least 1000 drones-interceptors to effectively counteract. "This level will be achieved.
I cannot say what level is, but in the near future this level will be implemented," the minister said. According to him, the goal is to intercept all the hostile drones in the territory of Ukraine. Drone production is not a problem, the complexity is to provide land management complexes, radars and artificial intelligence systems. Schmigal stressed that the interception system includes not only drones but also Reb systems and radars. "The big complex, and its implementation takes a little time.
But we confidently, according to the schedule, we move to the goal that is set," Shmigal assured. The Officer of the Armed Forces, the founder of the Matrix-Uav, the Research Design Bureau "Matrix-Uav", Yuriy Kasyanov criticizes the program of drones-interceptors at which Ukraine has made a bet for air defense. According to him, the state has allocated billions of hryvnias for their creation, but "Shahda" continues to attack Ukraine.
According to him, drones-interceptors are adapted FPV-drones with limited flight time, low speed and problems in bad weather. "In reality, everything is much more complicated-experienced operators for working in the sky at night-very little, crews have long been sent to the front, as" not critically important air defense elements ", radars for the detection of shahas we have a cat wept in all the Armed Forces, and" Shahda "flying a tight wedge, and launching the other. Notes Kasyanov.
In his opinion, hundreds of lacking operators, as well as radars and systems with artificial intelligence, are required to reflect massive attacks. There is little video of successful intercepts because the efficiency is low. Kasyanov offers anti-aircraft missile complexes, such as "shell" or "iron dome", which are more efficient and cheaper.
In turn, the Ukrainian businessman, volunteer and military Alexander Karpyuk, known as Serg Marco, denies Yuri Kasyanov's criticism against anti-aircraft drones. According to Karpyuk, the bet on drones appeared in the summer after the success of the crews, when they began to knock down 5-10 "shahas" per night, not at the beginning of the year. The training of anti -aircraft drone takes weeks. "The guidance of the anti-aircraft drone is automated through tactical radars.
Of course, the operator is needed there, but the procedure" Starting-pointing-capture of the target "is passed automated. A week or two is being studied there, everything is quite simple, this is not the same thing to teach a combat Fapvichnik," Karpyuk adds. Serg Marco also criticizes the creation of a new Ukrainian anti -aircraft missile complex similar to the Russian "shell". The latter, in particular, is ineffective against drones.
And the creation of a new rocket system will take years and billions of hryvnias. Aviation expert Konstantin Krivolap emphasized the complexity of creating effective systems of counteraction to round-shaped shock drone with the help of drones-interceptors, taking into account the physical, technical and human factors that influence the success of such operations. Krivolap explained that it is much more difficult to provide accurate aiming, especially in combat.
The FPV-Drone operator, which works in virtual reality glasses, faces serious calls: not only to find the goal, but also to get into it, which is complicated by high flight speed and limited visibility, especially at night. According to it, highly skilled operators are required to accomplish such tasks. "Sergei Flash notes that for the defeat of one" Shahaneda "experienced pilots use on average three drones-interceptors.
However, according to my estimates, only 3-4 from 20-30 experienced pilots can effectively intercepite enemy drones,"-says focus Kryvolap. In addition, according to the expert, the cost of one such drone ranges from $ 5 to $ 20,000, depending on the manufacturer, equipment and contract conditions. For example, the head of the Defense Ministry Agency Arsen Zhumadilov reported that three companies were regulated, one of which was Ukrainian to supply such drones.
At the same time, the Minister of Digital Transformation Mikhail Fedorov stated that Ukraine would buy all the drones-interceptors produced by domestic companies. At the same time, Krivolap is optimistic about the future Ukrainian divergence drones. He believes that Ukraine has not yet said its last word in this area, and development is ongoing.
For example, Fedorov announced that by mid-October 2025, Ukraine could obtain an automatic system of drones-interceptors, which would greatly simplify the fight against hostile UAVs. The expert noted that Russia has changed the tactics of using Shahaneda, moving to aiming attacks on specific objects and using group launches. Russian troops began to practice the so -called "swarms" of drones, where there is a leading drone, which coordinates others with each other.
Shakhda with communication channels and video surveillance are also gradually being introduced. The next step, according to Krivolap, may be the introduction of artificial intelligence -based pre -inspection systems, which will significantly complicate opposition. Krivolap stressed that the placement of drones-interceptors is another call. They should be placed at a sufficient distance from the cities to avoid civilian casualties in case of failure. In addition, drones should fly to a height of 1.
5-2 km to avoid small arms, which complicates their protection against enemy air defense. Currently, Russian drones are often burst into cities where mobile groups or drones-interceptors are beaten. "To intercepts one" Shahaneda "requires several drones-interceptors that run with a small interval of one minute. If Russia starts at the same time, for example, 50 drones, 300-500 operators are required to intercepate them, each of which needs a helper for orientation in space.
They avoided the impact of radio electronic struggle and worked at different frequencies, "the expert adds. We will remind, on the night of September 16 Russian troops attacked Ukraine with ballistic missiles and drones of "Shahed". As a result of the Russian attack in Zaporozhye, one person was killed, seven were injured, including one child. Focus also wrote that Russia is increasingly relying on drones as a key tool for war.