The Armed Forces lack 150 interceptor drones and operators: how to deal with swarms of UAVs of the Russian Armed Forces (video)

On the air of the "Espresso" TV channel, former deputy chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, retired lieutenant general Ihor Romanenko said that Ukraine wins at the level of technological innovations, but lags behind in the scaling of production and introduction of unmanned systems. According to him, the lack of necessary legislative instruments — for example, the law on the labor front — hinders the mobilization of personnel both in the armed forces and in industrial enterprises.

"That is why young people are not recruited not only to the Defense Forces of Ukraine, but also to the labor front. What's more, they escaped from this front according to known legislation, and in two months - more than 100 thousand, in particular, from the enterprises of the defense-industrial complex," said Romanenko. According to the general, the current level of production of interceptor drones is insufficient.

"If we now deploy about 150 interceptor drones per day, the issue cannot be resolved at this level. We need a system," he said. Romanenko also believes that an effective fight against mass attacks requires a comprehensive approach: a combination of interceptor drones with traditional anti-aircraft artillery and anti-aircraft missile systems, EW and aviation. And only the joint potential of all components, according to him, will give a real effect.

The key problem in the field of unmanned systems is the training of personnel. Romanenko noted that in the absence of AI, each drop-interceptor needs its own operator. In other words, if 1,000 drones have been released, then there must be 1,000 appropriately trained operators for them. "This situation can be changed if artificial intelligence takes part in these technologies, which allows one operator to control the swarm.

Secondly, the most difficult stage of the operator's work is when this drone is discovered, and our drone is guided. 100-200 m away, so that, if artificial intelligence is embodied, it intercepts control and then guides itself," the general believes. In general, the production of interceptors requires serious and preliminary preparation, Romanenko is convinced.

According to the current number of drones launched per day, which is about half a thousand, the available interceptors - about 150 per day - are clearly not enough. The range of such drones is estimated at 3 km from the starting point, which determines the radius of the objects they protect, but allows the enemy to maneuver.

"In order for them to show themselves effectively, it is not necessary to have thousands of drones for a thousand enemies, for example, but to have several thousand interceptors for a thousand enemies. Such are the scales and such tasks facing our industry, both state and private," he concluded. Earlier it was reported that the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation began to actively use simple reusable interceptor drones against the drones of the Defense Forces of Ukraine.