Over the past year, the number of private air-defence entities established in Ukraine has exceeded a hundred. Forming such a unit and, shoulder to shoulder with the Armed Forces, shooting down enemy drones is a difficult but achievable task, said Major General Andriy Lebedenko, former deputy to Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, at an LBTalks event.
According to him, there are now more than 10 entities that are not only set up and undergoing training, but are already performing the function of protecting their facilities. Lebedenko drew attention to the fact that private air defence does not rely solely on turrets or drone interceptors.
“We designed it more broadly. You become a participant in air defence and gain access to systems that give you the ability to understand the situational awareness around your facility. You can organise alerts, as petrol stations and retail chains have done,” he said.
Private air defence can also switch on electronic warfare. And directly use weapons to engage targets.
Lebedenko noted that veterans often take part in private air-defence groups.
Private Air Defence
The intention to allow critical enterprises to defend themselves against attacks was announced as far back as last year, when Denys Shmyhal was Minister of Defence. The government granted permission to launch the experiment this year. Within one month of the project’s launch, 14 companies announced their desire to form private air-defence groups.
As of 29 October, private air-defence groups had shot down about 60 drones using turrets. Read more in an article by Viktoriia Naidonova: “"This should become something everyday, like ordinary security". How private air defence works in Ukraine and what is lacking.”