Russia’s growing use of jet-powered UAVs challenges Ukraine’s air defense
Ukrainian interceptor drone, designed to take down slow-moving UAVs (Photo: REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko)
Russia now deploys jet-powered
models of its kamikaze drones in attacks against Ukrainian cities,
invalidating many of Ukraine’s air defense systems designed to counter slow-moving
Shahed UAVs, The Telegraph reported
on July 2.
The new models are fundamentally different from older UAVs in both technical specifications and acoustic signature. Fitted with Chinese-made turbojet engines, the updated drones can reach speeds of up to 500 kilometers per hour, nearly three times the speed of common propeller-driven Shahed drones, which fly at about 180 kilometers per hour.
These loitering munitions carry warheads weighing roughly 50 to 90 kilograms. In flight they produce a high-pitched whistling sound rather than the low hum associated with propeller drones, making it easy to confuse them with cruise missiles.
The purpose of using high-speed drones, analysts say, is to exhaust and saturate Ukrainian air defenses. Yurii Ignat, a spokesman for Ukraine’s Air Force, said the new targets are largely out of reach for Ukraine’s mobile air-defense units and specialized anti-drone interceptors, which have top speeds of about 300–350 kilometers per hour.
To shoot down the jet drones, Ukrainian troops now often must expend scarce and highly valuable surface-to-air missiles (SAMs). That, in turn, creates gaps in layered defenses that Russian forces can exploit with ballistic and cruise missiles.
Military analysts have recorded a steady increase in the
share of jet drones used in combined Russian attacks. Observers say Russia has
launched from about 30 to more than 100 of these high-speed drones at once
during recent mass strikes.
The military war may be swinging in our favor, but the information war continues.
Just as an army needs soldiers, so does a free society need its journalists to ensure that people have access to honest, trustworthy voices to understand the world around them.
For the past five years, The New Voice of Ukraine has been working tirelessly to push back against Russian narratives and defend democracy. But we cannot do it alone.
Please consider supporting us on Patreon for just $5 a month – your donation does directly to supporting journalists and ensuring that this front of the infowar says solid and defended.
Thank you.
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Google News
