Ukraine unveils AI-powered air defense turret, already shoots down Shahed UAVs (photo)
Photo: Ukraine has developed an air defense turret with AI, the system has already been tested on the Shahed drones (Mykyta Shandyba)
A fully automated turret called Sky Sentinel, operated by artificial intelligence (AI), has been developed in Ukraine. The system has already shot down its first Russian drones, United24 media reports.
In particular, the turret was developed to protect Ukrainian cities from Russian attack drones.
"Human intervention, for example, a soldier manually guiding the turret, is not required. Deploy Sky Sentinel in combat position, feed it radar data, and it will do everything else: detect, lock on, track flight trajectories, calculate the shot, and open fire. All on its own," the developers explain.
The system is equipped with:
- a large-caliber M2 Browning machine gun;
- a sensor system.
The turret is also capable of intercepting small and fast-moving targets with speeds of up to 800 kilometers per hour, which is sufficient to destroy Shahed UAVs or objects half their size.
The maximum strike range of the Sky Sentinel is classified. However, the reports indicate that the M2 machine gun's effective firing range against aerial targets reaches 1.5 kilometers.
"Each unit costs about $150,000. To effectively protect a city, 10 to 30 turrets are needed, which is still cheaper than a single interceptor missile from many traditional air defense systems. And since each Shahed-136 costs around $100,000, Sky Sentinel offers a cost-effective response to a relentless threat," the developers state.
