Kiev is rushing to expand its air defense, after Russia used over 2,500 jet-powered drones just in the month of August.
Ukraine has four potential interception systems capable of shooting down the increasingly fast Geran Russian attack drones, equipped with jet engines, stated the Ukrainian Minister of Defense, Evghenii Hmara, on August 30, as quoted by Suspilne.
Russia has significantly stepped up the use of these faster drones against Ukrainian cities, causing major damage to civil infrastructure and numerous casualties among the population. The attacks put almost unprecedented pressure on Ukraine’s anti-aircraft defense systems.
All four interception systems have already undergone field tests, Hmara specified. Ukraine now aims to bring them up to the necessary performance level as quickly as possible and to expand production to thousands of units.
“The search for means to counteract jet engine drones continues,” Hmara told journalists, according to Suspilne. “There are already four potential interceptors capable of downing Shahed jet engine drones. Field tests have already been conducted on these.”
Russia is rapidly expanding its Geran drone attacks
The Russian Geran drones are jet-engine equipped versions of the Shahed attack drones, initially designed in Iran, which Russia has been domestically producing since the beginning of the large-scale war. The faster Geran variants give Ukrainian anti-air defenses less time to detect and intercept them.
Ukrainian defense technology consultant Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov has stated that Russia has used over 2,500 Geran jet-powered drones against Ukraine just in August, compared to approximately 1,500 in July. He further stated that the drones are launched against Ukraine almost directly from Russian factories, which shows how quickly their production and use has increased.
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