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Ukraine’s interceptor drones are countering Russia’s new jet-powered Geran-3 attack drones.
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Russia has deployed 138 Geran-3 drones, which are faster and more advanced than the Geran-2 model.
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Ukrainian developers are rapidly adapting drone technology to counter the evolving Russian drone threat.
Russia’s new high-speed attack drones are increasingly appearing on the battlefield, but Ukrainians say they have already destroyed some with cheap interceptors.
Serhiy Sternenko, leader of a volunteer organization specializing in donating drones to Ukrainian units, said on Sunday that the Sting – a locally manufactured interceptor drone – had successfully destroyed several jet-powered attack drones.
“A bit of a historic achievement,” Sternenko wrote on his Telegram channel. He published a photo that appears to show the back of a jet-powered Geran-3 in the sky, suggesting the footage was taken by a plane fast enough to catch a Russian drone.
The announcement is another sign of how Ukraine is seeking ways to combat the growing threat of jet-powered strikes, amid concerns that Russia’s new drones could be reliably destroyed by cheap means.
On Sunday, Ukraine’s General Staff said during a monthly briefing for officials that Russia had already deployed 138 new unmanned aerial systems.
This turbojet drone is the Geran-3, Russia’s domestic version of the Iranian Shahed-238 long-range loitering gun. With an estimated top speed of 230 mph, the Geran-3 flies much faster than its propeller-driven predecessor, which the Kremlin has been using to hammer Ukraine in large waves for the past year.
The Geran-2, modeled after the Shahed-136, flies at about 115 mph and is now the cornerstone of Moscow’s bombing strategy.
Russia routinely assembles these mass-produced drones to send large waves across the border, linking them with hundreds of decoys to defeat Ukrainian air defenses. Kiev officials have said the Geran-2s could cost as little as $20,000 each.
A challenge for new inhibitors
In response, the Ukrainians are developing interceptor drones, or small first-person-view drones, modified to fly at high speeds, as a low-cost way to counter the Geran-2. Each typically costs between $2,000 and $6,000, and they are now considered an important part of Ukraine’s air defense system, working alongside machine gun teams and a range of other interceptors.
The Sting, the interceptor mentioned by Sternenko, is one such drone that is frequently deployed. It was developed by the Ukrainian company Wild Hornets with four rotors to fly at speeds of around 215 mph.
Ukraine has seen limited use of interceptor drones to take down Saheed, but has been driving development hard in recent months to counter Russia’s growing drone waves.Wild Hornets/Telegram
Sporadic appearances of the Geran-3 over the past year, however, have raised fears that these interceptor drones will be too slow to catch waves of jet-powered Shaheds.
If that happens, the war will rekindle Ukraine’s main struggle to avoid such large-scale airstrikes: cost. The country is already strapped for resources and cannot use conventional expensive missiles to take down cheap Russian drones.
A recent briefing by the General Staff said Ukraine had destroyed most of the 138 Geran-3s recently used by Russia, but by what means was unclear.
Senior Ukrainian officials told Business Insider’s Jake Epstein last month that Russia is experimenting with Geran-3 to test and research Ukraine’s defenses.
But they also said Moscow had deployed a limited number of new drones. This indicates that Russia has not yet progressed to mass production to the level that Geran-2 will reach.
The Geran-3 is more advanced than the Geran-2, of which Russia produces thousands every month, with new features such as a satellite navigation system that increases resistance to electronic warfare.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian drone developers previously told Business Insider that they are preparing for the possibility of Geran-3 taking to the skies.
Pavlo Palisa, deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential office, said in September that Kiev had developed drones “capable of fighting martyrs with jet engines.” However, he did not reveal details about these new interceptors.
Read the original article on Business Insider
