{"id":1451626,"date":"2026-10-12T06:58:52","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T03:58:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/air-defense-f-16-drones-and-deep-strike-khmara-named-the-main-priorities-of-the-ministry-of-defense\/"},"modified":"2026-10-12T06:58:52","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T03:58:52","slug":"air-defense-f-16-drones-and-deep-strike-khmara-named-the-main-priorities-of-the-ministry-of-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/air-defense-f-16-drones-and-deep-strike-khmara-named-the-main-priorities-of-the-ministry-of-defense\/","title":{"rendered":"Air defense, F-16, drones and deep strike: Khmara named the main priorities of the Ministry of Defense"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Ministry of Defense has identified key areas for strengthening Ukraine’s defense. These include multi-level air defense, scaling up interceptor drones, strengthening aviation, countering ballistics and anti-aircraft missiles, developing middle strike and deep strike, and supporting the defense industry.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This was reported<\/a> by ArmyInform following a conversation between Defense Minister Yevheniy Khmara and journalists.<\/p>\n

Multi-level air defense<\/h3>\n

According to Khmara, Ukraine is building sky defense on a multi-level principle, since one type of means is not enough.<\/p>\n

The system includes anti-aircraft missile systems, MANPADS, turrets, electronic warfare equipment, interceptor drones, \u201csmall air defense,\u201d as well as aircraft \u2013 F-16 and Mirage.<\/p>\n

The Ministry of Defense is simultaneously working on the procurement of interceptors, aviation ammunition, air defense systems, artillery systems, turrets, and electronic warfare equipment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also know what solutions Russia is developing, this concerns jet drones with a speed of 800 km. We are also working on finding ways to counter the next generation of threats,\u201d Khmara said.<\/p>\n

Ukrainian manufacturers have already been tasked with offering appropriate prototypes and solutions.<\/p>\n

Jet drones and interceptors<\/h3>\n

The Ministry of Defense claims that the effectiveness of countering conventional \u201cShaheeds\u201d already exceeds 90%.<\/p>\n

The main challenge remains jet drones, which require significantly higher intercept speeds.<\/p>\n

One of the Ukrainian units has already deployed five Bars interceptors and destroyed five air targets. This experience is now being scaled up.<\/p>\n

Ukraine also uses large-caliber turrets against jet UAVs. Their number in service is already measured in the hundreds.<\/p>\n

F-16 and Mirage<\/h3>\n

Aviation remains one of the most effective means of combating jet drones.<\/p>\n

The Ministry of Defense is working to increase the number of F-16s available for combat duty. One of the main bottlenecks is aircraft maintenance, so the relevant capabilities are being expanded.<\/p>\n

In parallel, Mirage is used to counter air targets.<\/p>\n

A separate task is to maintain ammunition supplies for both platforms for several months ahead.<\/p>\n

Ballistics<\/h3>\n

The threat of ballistic strikes remains critical.<\/p>\n

According to Khmara, the current and potential supply of missiles for anti-ballistic defense is insufficient.<\/p>\n

The Ministry of Defense is trying not to wait for large long-term contracts, but rather to find available supplies from partners and accelerate their transfer to Ukraine.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need dozens and hundreds of missiles, not single deliveries,\u201d the minister emphasized.<\/p>\n

In parallel, Ukraine is using an asymmetric response \u2013 striking Russian launchers.<\/p>\n

In September and early October, the Defense Forces struck eight Russian ballistic missiles<\/strong> : three were destroyed and five more were damaged.<\/p>\n

According to Khmara, such strikes have already forced Russia to cancel or modify planned ballistic attacks.<\/p>\n

Fighting drones before they even launch<\/h3>\n

Ukraine is working not only on UAVs in the air, but also on the entire chain of their use.<\/p>\n

This includes production, components, factories, warehouses, training and launch sites, control points, and UAV crews.<\/p>\n

Such strikes do not stop Russian attacks completely, but they reduce their effectiveness and force the Russian Federation to rebuild infrastructure and form new teams.<\/p>\n

Counteraction to KABs<\/h3>\n

In the fight against guided bombs, the Ministry of Defense is not only relying on interception.<\/p>\n

The priority is to destroy carrier aircraft and Russian airfield infrastructure.<\/p>\n

Ukraine is also testing additional solutions that should allow it to more effectively counter aircraft using CABs.<\/p>\n

Hunting for UAV crews<\/h3>\n

A separate direction should be the systematic destruction of Russian drone operators.<\/p>\n

According to Khmara, this requires specialized second-echelon units that will focus on finding and destroying UAV crews and their ground infrastructure.<\/p>\n

Ukraine already has examples where such work significantly reduced the capabilities of Russian aerial reconnaissance in certain areas of the front.<\/p>\n

Middle strike<\/h3>\n

The Ministry of Defense is also working on scaling middle strike assets to the corps level.<\/p>\n

Their main targets should be UAV crews, control points, logistics, air defense, radar, electronic warfare equipment, and other objects in operational depth.<\/p>\n

Deep strike<\/h3>\n

Deep strike remains a separate priority.<\/p>\n

According to Khmara, the task is not simply to determine the range of strikes, but to destroy the Russian Federation’s ability to continue the war.<\/p>\n

The minister stated that systemic attacks on Russian oil refining have already had an economic effect.<\/p>\n

According to him, since the beginning of the relevant operations , 51% of the Russian Federation’s oil refining capacity has been disabled<\/strong> .<\/p>\n

Ukraine plans to further scale up deep strike and improve the ability of such assets to overcome echeloned Russian air defense.<\/p>\n

Jet engines<\/h3>\n

A separate critical area for the Ukrainian defense industry is the production of jet engines.<\/p>\n

They are needed for interceptors, middle strike, deep strike, and cruise missiles.<\/p>\n

Ukraine’s need for one type of engine in 2027 may reach about 10 thousand units per month<\/strong> .<\/p>\n

The Ministry of Defense notes that about two dozen manufacturers in three main categories of such engines already operate in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Reservation of defense industry workers<\/h3>\n

The Ministry of Defense advocates for maximum reservation of defense industry workers.<\/p>\n

The logic is that if a company receives a government contract and the task of scaling up production of critical systems, it must have enough employees to perform the task.<\/p>\n

At the same time, the system must take into account the real contribution of the enterprise to providing the Defense Forces.<\/p>\n

Ukrainian weapons exports<\/h3>\n

Another direction is the creation of a system for exporting Ukrainian defense products.<\/p>\n

The needs of the Defense Forces remain an absolute priority.<\/p>\n

They plan to export only products that are produced in excess of the needs of the army and do not pose risks to its provision.<\/p>\n

The Ministry of Defense is also working on a mechanism under which part of the revenues from such exports will be directed back to the needs of the Defense Forces.<\/p>\n

Also follow \u201cPryamim\u201d<\/strong> on Facebook<\/a> , X<\/a> , Telegram<\/a> , and Instagram<\/a> .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Ministry of Defense has identified key areas for strengthening Ukraine’s defense. These include multi-level air defense, scaling up interceptor drones, strengthening aviation, countering ballistics and anti-aircraft missiles, developing middle strike and deep strike, and supporting the defense industry. This was reported by ArmyInform following a conversation between Defense Minister Yevheniy Khmara and journalists. Multi-level […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":1419729,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[76871,76872,76874,76875],"class_list":["post-1451626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-2","category-news-feed","category-war","category-other-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1451626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1451626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1451626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1419729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1451626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1451626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}