Ukraine faces surge of Russian jet drones, Zelenskyy pushes for 90% interception rate
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (photo: facebook.com/zelenskyy.official)
Russia launched nearly 1,500 drones at Ukraine in just four days, including about 800 jet-powered drones. Ukraine aims to raise its interception rate for these targets above 90% this fall, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Ukraine must raise its rate of Russian drone interceptions above 90% this fall.
Zelenskyy said this during today's military briefings on air defense.
The president says Russia's current tactic is to exhaust Ukraine and its people through constant drone attacks. In just four days, nearly 1,500 drones of various types, including about 800 jet-powered ones, were launched on Ukraine. The country's forces shot down a significant number of them.
The head of state stressed that jet-powered drones are the most difficult to intercept, with combat aircraft currently providing most of the defense against them. At the same time, Ukraine is working on interceptors—four companies have developed such drones, and one of them has produced the most successful design.
"Right now, the Ministry of Defense, the military—everyone—must do their utmost to ensure that we have as many capabilities as possible to shoot down every type of Russian drone," Zelenskyy said.
As previously reported, Ukraine has already tested four potential interceptors against jet-powered drones. The Defense Ministry now plans to bring the designs to the required level as quickly as possible and ramp up production to thousands of units.
Russia, meanwhile, is stepping up its use of jet-powered drones, using them to compensate for the declining effectiveness of conventional Shaheds during massive attacks.
