He said the interceptors have already undergone field tests
and now need to be “brought to the required level as quickly as possible,”
while production needs to be scaled up to thousands of units.
Challenges in developing interceptors for jet-powered Shaheds
On Aug. 24, Ukrainian presidential technology adviser Serhiy
Beskrestnov, whose call sign is Flash, told Radio NV that Ukrainian
manufacturers had not yet developed jet-powered interceptor drones for Shaheds
and Banderols.
“We are all waiting for jet-powered interceptors, and we
have been waiting quite a long time — since winter. We had a big meeting, and
in the winter many manufacturers said that we already had jet-powered
interceptors, you could say. There were literally just a few weeks to go, and
everything would be flying. But unfortunately, the challenge turned out to be
more difficult than it seemed. Many months have passed, and we still don’t have
anything like that,” Beskrestnov said.
Beskrestnov said Russia followed its jet-powered Geran-3
Shaheds, which fly at about 300 kilometers per hour, with mass production of
jet-powered Geran-4 Shaheds, which reach speeds of 450–550 kilometers per hour.
A jet-powered interceptor therefore needs to reach 600 kilometers per hour,
making the task significantly more difficult for manufacturers.
Flash said there was still no working solution and air
defenses were using air-to-air missiles, surface-to-air missiles and MANPADS to
shoot down jet-powered Shaheds.
“Right now, by my calculations, we are shooting down up to
80% of jet-powered Shaheds. From my perspective, that is a very good result,”
Beskrestnov said.
In July, aviation expert Valerii Romanenko told Radio NV
that Ukraine’s air defense interception rate against Shaheds had recently
fallen from 90% to 76% because the Russians had begun using jet-powered Shaheds,
which fly at 300–450 kilometers per hour, compared with 180 kilometers per hour
for conventional Shaheds.