The Brave1 defence cluster is funding developments to counter the enemy’s jet-powered drones — including small air-defence missiles and interceptor drones. One of the funded systems is already bringing down Russian Banderol missile-drones. Brave1 CEO Andriy Hrytsenyuk said this in aninterview with Forbes Ukraine.
On small air-defence missiles, Hrytsenyuk said that in the second half of 2025 six companies received more than UAH 1bn in funding. This covers not only missile development, but also launchers, seeker heads and radars.
The competition requirement is that the cost per launch must not exceed $20,000–25,000, while a jet-powered “Shahed” costs $100,000–150,000. The latest contracts, Hrytseniuk says, were signed in January 2026 with implementation timelines of 12–18 months.
According to the head of Brave1, the key bottlenecks are components that were previously not produced in Ukraine at all, or were produced by only one supplier — including rocket fuel (Brave1 provided eight grants of up to UAH 8m each) and seeker heads.
As for interceptor drones, the cluster is working in four areas:
- turbojet interceptors with an engine like that of a cruise missile;
- impeller interceptors with electric propulsion — around eight times cheaper (the engine costs $500–1,000 versus $5,000–8,000 for a turbojet);
- ultra-fast electric racing quadcopters capable of accelerating to more than 450 km/h;
- systems for downing Shaheds on head-on courses, being developed by six companies.
On the downing of the Banderol drone-missile, Hrytseniuk said that as of mid-August the military had shot down four such missile-drones using one of the systems created with a Brave1 grant. According to the head of the defence cluster, the cost of the shoot-down is significantly lower than the cost of the Banderol itself, and it is not the only Ukrainian product capable of hitting it.
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On 29 August, Defence Minister Yevhen Khmara said there are already
that can shoot down Russian jet-powered Shahed drones. Earlier, Deputy Head of the Office of the President Pavlo Palisa said that
the Russians have significantly increased their use of jet-powered UAVs
and will only increase their numbers, as they see their effectiveness. It is worth noting that from the night of 27 August Russia switched to
effectively continuous strikes by small groups of drones
on the capital region. A significant share of the UAVs are jet-powered: such drones move several times faster than those with propeller engines and are harder to shoot down.