Most of the drones currently attacking Ukraine, particularly the Kyiv region, are jet-powered. Of more than 1,500 drones detected over the past four days, around 800 were jet-powered, Yurii Ihnat, head of communications at the Ukrainian Air Force Command, said during a national television broadcast.
According to Ihnat, the overall interception rate for Russian drones is around 90%, although the rate for jet-powered drones is lower for objective reasons, primarily due to a shortage of interceptor missiles.
He said Russia began increasing its use of jet-powered drones in July, when it deployed five times as many as in June.
“That was the month when the enemy significantly increased the use of jet-powered UAVs, as well as Banderol systems, also referred to as drone missiles. Their flight characteristics are close to those of cruise missiles, with speeds of around 600 kilometres per hour. The enemy understands that the Defence Forces have already achieved very high effectiveness in shooting down Shaheds, so it has increased the use of more sophisticated and faster systems, which require ground- and air-based air defence capabilities, including aircraft,” Ihnat said.
According to him, statistics for August are likely to show an even greater increase in Russia’s use of high-speed jet-powered drones.
Russian forces are increasingly deploying new jet-powered drones that are considerably more difficult to intercept. They can reach speeds that Ukrainian interceptor drones, which can accelerate to only around 300 kilometres per hour, are physically unable to match.
In addition, these targets fly at altitudes of around five kilometres, placing them beyond the effective range of mobile fire groups and man-portable air defence systems.
Ihnat also stressed that Ukraine is currently facing an acute shortage of interceptor missiles. This applies not only to expensive missiles for Patriot systems used to intercept ballistic threats, but also to ammunition for other ground-based air defence systems and aviation platforms.
At the same time, he stressed that Ukraine’s Defence Forces are doing everything possible and that the overall interception rate remains very high.
