Russia is increasingly deploying jet-powered attack drones that Ukrainian interceptor drones are unable to intercept.
According to Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat, the latest Russian models are approaching the performance of cruise missiles.
Amid the escalating missile war, the arms race between Russia and Ukraine is in full swing, with neither side managing to decisively prevail, BneIntelliNews reports.
Russia has increased production at its drone plant in the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Tatarstan and continues to innovate with the latest model of the Geran-5, equipped with a jet engine and new, sophisticated radar and communications equipment.
Ukraine has responded with new medium- and long-range drones that are devastating Russian supply lines behind the front line and have struck all 30 major Russian oil refineries, some thousands of kilometers from the border. They recently destroyed warehouses of Wildberries, a major Russian retailer.
Jet-powered drones can reach speeds of up to 500-600 km/h, but the latest Russian model, the Dan-M, has reached 750 km/h, according to Euronews.
Ukrainian interceptor drones reach a top speed of around 300 km/h, rendering mobile fire groups and heavy machine guns largely incapable of stopping them; such targets now require anti-aircraft systems or air-to-air missiles.
Moscow developed this new family of Geran drones based on the Banderol, a hybrid drone/cruise missile that Moscow has begun deploying while continuing to expand and modernize its missile program despite Western sanctions.
The stakes are high because Ukraine has largely exhausted its Patriot interceptor missiles to counter Russian ballistic and cruise missiles, leaving cheaper interceptor drones as one of its last lines of defense against air attacks.
The shortage of Ukrainian air defense interceptors also impacts civilian casualties, for example. Moscow carries out long-range strikes to disrupt Ukraine’s logistics, energy, and port infrastructure.
Ukraine is responding similarly: its companies are developing high-speed jet interceptors, capable of exceeding 450 km/h, converting them into improvised anti-aircraft missiles, which are still too slow for the speed of Moscow’s jet-powered drones.
Graziella Giangiulio
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