An independent anti-aircraft machine gun battalion defending the skies over Sumy Region has received a batch of Sky Sentinel robotic turrets, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces has announced.
According to the General Staff, the domestically developed system demonstrated high effectiveness during training, particularly against high-speed Shahed-type drones (Geran-3 and Geran-4), which can exceed speeds of 300 km/h. It is also capable of engaging FPV drones. In addition, the military plans to test the system against missiles.
"The biggest advantage of this system is how quickly it calculates lead on a target. Within fractions of a second, it already knows where to aim, with an error margin of no more than one metre. That is practically impossible for a human. Thanks to its powerful optics and laser rangefinder, it also measures distance with an error of just 20–50 centimetres. Based on this data, artificial intelligence uses a ballistic calculator to determine the correct lead, allowing the target to be destroyed with a minimal amount of ammunition," one serviceman said.
The General Staff said the Sky Sentinel systems, worth a total of UAH 40 million, were purchased by the Sumy Regional Military Administration using funds from the regional budget, the UNITED24 platform and private-sector contributions.
What is known about Sky Sentinel
According to UNITED24, Sky Sentinel is an autonomous AI-controlled air defence turret equipped with a heavy machine gun and capable of rotating through 360 degrees. It is designed to intercept Shahed-136 drones at operational range and can also engage targets as small as half their size.
During field trials, the system reportedly destroyed targets up to five times smaller than a Shahed drone. It is also claimed to be capable of intercepting cruise missiles within its effective range. The turret's mechanical components were developed and fully tested in Ukraine, both at proving grounds and under real combat conditions.
Sky Sentinel uses foreign-made targeting and laser rangefinding components, which remain unavailable from domestic manufacturers. However, all of the turret's software was developed by Ukrainian engineers.
It is known that the turrets operate using standard heavy machine guns, calculating shots in real time. One unit costs $150,000.
United24 notes that between 10 and 30 turrets will be required to effectively defend the city.