For 800 drones – 1,000 interceptors: Shmyhal announced a new level of counteraction to Russian attacks

Ukraine is preparing to move to a new level of countering Russian night attacks. Soon, our defense will be able to use at least a thousand interceptor drones per day.

This was stated by Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal at a joint press conference with Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosyniak-Kamysz in Kyiv on September 18, a correspondent for Suspilny reports .

According to Shmyhal, Russia is already demonstrating a level of approximately 800 drones per night, so Ukraine needs to have a reserve for defense – at least 1,000 interceptors per day.

“This level will be achieved. I cannot say what the level is today, but this level will be realized in the near future,” the minister said.

The minister clarified that manufacturing the drones themselves is not a problem. The difficulty lies in deploying ground control centers, radar networks, and other systems that use artificial intelligence for guidance and coordination.

“This is a large complex, and its implementation takes some time. But we are confidently moving towards this goal, according to the schedule,” Shmyhal added.

It was previously reported that Russia has begun to widely use modernized Shahed jets , which complicates the work of air defense due to their higher speed. In response, Ukrainian engineers have accelerated the development and are scaling up production of inexpensive but maneuverable FPV interceptors capable of catching up with and shooting down such aircraft.

Recall, the Ministry of Defense’s GUR published the contents of the Geran-3 jet drone . A 3D model and a list of components, from the engine to navigation systems, appeared on the War&Sanctions portal. It turned out that the device is built mainly from imported components (parts come from the USA, China and Europe), and its “heart” is the Chinese Telefly JT80 turbojet. It is thanks to this engine that the Geran-3 develops 300–370 km/h and has an approximate range of about 1,000 km.