One Russian drone requires three interceptor drones and radar – analyst Badrak

Ukraine needs to have three interceptor drones for one Russian attack drone and provide a system for detecting the occupiers' UAVs. This was stated in an article for LIGA.net by Valentyn Badrak, director of the Center for Army Research, Conversion and Disarmament.

"Experts assess the situation as follows: even with a comprehensive air defense system, it is necessary to achieve a situation where the Defense Forces will be able to use three anti-aircraft drones against one enemy UAV. And, of course, to provide a system for detecting enemy drones," he wrote.

During its largest attack on July 9, Russia used 728 drones, which means that, according to these calculations, more than 2,100 interceptors would be needed against a similar number of Russian drones (excluding other air defense components).

Badrak recalled that the development of the Sting interceptor drone was first announced in October 2024, and Israeli RADA ieMHR radar systems, which can see Shahed/Geranium drones, began to be used by the Defense Forces in May 2013, when the first three missile warning radars were purchased as part of a volunteer initiative from the Lithuanian organization Blue/Yellow.

"So if the state had a single decision-making center for the development of all unmanned systems and related innovative solutions, and if the defense and industrial ministries worked in wartime mode, Ukrainian cities would not have faced the destruction of residential areas by Russia in the summer of 2025," the analyst believes.

The Defense Procurement Agency reported LIGA.net that by the end of June 2025, 417 contracts for the purchase of UAVs, including interceptors, worth UAH 113.2 billion had been signed (in 2024, there were 497 contracts and UAH 69 billion, and not only this agency purchases drones for the Defense Forces). After the latest Russian attacks, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Air Force reported that interceptors had shot down dozens of Russian drones and announced the scaling up of the technology.

Badrak added that non-traditional capabilities, such as private military companies, should also be used to scale such technologies: at the expense of critical infrastructure owners, they will be able to provide protection of facilities, including complex means, where interceptor drones will play a prominent role.

The expert noted that big business "is able to help the state in deploying massive, physically protected interceptor production, as it is about ensuring the nation's resilience."

The analyst added that at the end of June, the Ukrainian group "Wild Hornets" alone produced a large batch of interceptor drones, but, as before, thanks to the funds of philanthropists, they managed to raise UAH 85 million, which will be used to purchase 395 drones to intercept Shaheds and another 1500 anti-aircraft FPVs to shoot down Russian reconnaissance drones.

• Ukrainian Armed Forces Chief Syrskyi reported that interceptor drones are almost twice as effective as mobile fire groups (MVG) in shooting down Shaheds, while the latter are still relevant, and the new technology lacks radar.
• The chief communicator of the Unmanned Systems Forces also told LIGA.net that MVGs are still relevant, but in the context of Russia's massive mixed attacks, interceptor drones are still more effective.