Ukraine’s Defence Forces should fight the enemy’s jet-powered strike drones using missiles rather than interceptor drones, while the pace of technological change at the front demands the immediate involvement of Western partners in joint development.
This was stated by Colonel Ihor Obolienskyi, commander of the “Khartiia” corps of the National Guard of Ukraine, during a speech at the annual Yalta European Strategy (YES) conference.
“Technology is changing the battlefield very quickly — unrealistically quickly. What existed two years ago is not discussed at all. Technologies change within as little as two to three months,” Obolienskyi said.
The commander stressed the need to build, as quickly as possible together with the West, two to three layers of air cover. He personally does not believe interceptor drones are an effective means of countering the enemy’s jet-powered drones, because piloting such a drone at a speed of 500 km/h requires training comparable to that of F-16 pilots — and it is impossible to train that many pilots.
“In my personal view, only missiles will shoot down those same jet-powered drones, but they must be at altitude. A carrier drone, like a helicopter, will lift them to an altitude of 2–3 kilometres, where detection radars will detect and engage the targets. Believe me, this needs to be done already,” the commander explained.
He criticised proposals to buy drones to shoot down other drones and said there is a need to develop a short-range missile and missile carriers of the air-to-air class, because by summer almost all of the enemy’s strike drones will be jet-powered. Obolienskyi urged Western partners to join this joint work, while emphasising that the main direction of effort must not change.
“Our main task is to stop the enemy’s infantry. They will strike the front until we stop them. The front line remains the main one, and I ask that attention not be shifted under any circumstances,” Obolienskyi stressed.
According to him, as soon as the front stabilises and the Russians have no success — not a single kilometre advanced — the world will ask why Putin continues the war if he is not advancing and is only engaging in terror against civilians, which will further worsen his position on the international stage.
- Russia has increased its use of jet-powered strike drones this year. They have several times higher speed and the ability to fly at an altitude of several thousand metres, which makes them harder to shoot down.
- Drone terror is directed at various regions, including Kyiv and the surrounding region.
- To shoot down jet-powered drones several developments are being worked on, including interceptor drones and missiles.