Jet “Shaheeds” over Ukraine: how the Armed Forces of Ukraine can counter Russian drones

Russia is modernizing its strike drones and switching to jet-powered versions of the Shahed, which is a direct challenge to air defense. Although the new speed of the Russian aircraft initially caused concern, Ukrainian engineers have accelerated the pace of development and are scaling up production of FPV interceptors.

As Business Insider reports, citing the words of Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Pavlo Palisa, Ukraine has interceptor drones capable of destroying the targets of such a plan.

Previously, the Geran-2 (a propeller-driven copy of the Shahed-136) flew at about 185 km/h with a range of about 1,000 km. According to recent reports, the jet version, the Geran-3, is capable of speeds of about 370 km/h with the same range. This difference in speed makes interception more difficult, especially when the Russians launch hundreds of drones and decoy drones simultaneously to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses.

Kyiv is responding to this threat by intensifying work on cheap but maneuverable FPV drones. It is planned to produce a large number of inexpensive interceptors that can catch up with and collide with strike UAVs. This allows closing gaps in defense and more economically using more expensive interception systems for real threats – missiles and ballistics.

The problem is that the increase in speed of the Geran-3 requires a corresponding acceleration of the interceptors. Ukrainian designers need to create FPV models with twice the maximum speed, but maintain a low production cost. This is technically difficult, but this is exactly the current strategy: to combine quantitative production with qualitative improvement.

In addition, the Russians began to bring their “Shaheeds” to higher altitudes to neutralize the effectiveness of machine gun or anti-aircraft crews at low levels. Therefore, the Ukrainian approach – a multi-level air defense, where FPV interceptors cover the near zone, and more powerful systems operate at a long distance – looks like the most realistic solution.

Palisa and other official sources are keeping the exact characteristics and numbers of the new interceptors secret, but confirm that work is underway intensively, and the defense industry is reorienting itself to the new realities of strike drone warfare.

Earlier, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry 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.

As Defense Express experts previously reported, analysis of the remains of downed Geran-2 attack UAVs indicates that Russia is using new technological solutions on a mass scale. These include Chinese-made mesh modems and built-in course cameras , which are likely used to guide drones to the target in real time.

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