Ukraine racing to develop new interceptors as Russian drones and missiles ravage the country

By Tim Lister, Victoria Butenko and Svitlana Vlasova CNN

(CNN) — Ukraine is urgently trying to develop interceptors capable of countering a new generation of Russian jet-powered drones that have wreaked havoc across the country in recent months.

Along with the Kremlin’s ballistic weapons and a new type of cruise missile, the jet-drones have caused massive damage in and around the capital, Kyiv.

They have also been used to target warehouses, gas stations, postal facilities and factories in what is becoming a much broader war in terms of targets.

The jet-powered Shahed drones – known as the Geran-4 and Geran-5 – are more difficult to intercept because of their speed and number. They are three times faster than the original Shaheds that Russia procured from Iran.

“Drone attacks are constant, with many jet-powered Shaheds,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday. Almost 1,500 drones of all types were fired at Ukraine over the previous four days, more than half of them jet-powered, he said.

The mass deployment of the jet-powered drones has accelerated over the past two months. About 1,500 were used in July, and more than 2,500 in August, according to Serhiy Beskrestnov, an adviser to Zelensky .

They were “being launched at Ukraine practically straight from the factory,” he said in a Facebook post at the weekend. Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence alleges that the jet-powered drones contain hundreds of components made by foreign companies, including in the US, UK and China.

Many of the jet-powered drones have been fired at the capital as Russia has moved to barrages against Kyiv both day and night. On Saturday, the Ukrainian military said Russia fired 224 drones at Ukraine in daylight hours – most of them jet-powered. On Sunday, Kyiv experienced eight air raid alerts between midnight and dusk.

The Kremlin’s goal is to exhaust Ukrainian air defenses and sap the morale of civilians, as it expands its list of targets to food warehouses and stores and continues strikes against energy infrastructure, say Ukrainian officials.

“The enemy is trying to paralyze economic activity in the capital and major cities, so our approaches and response mechanisms must change,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi said over the weekend.

The intensity of Russian daytime strikes also comes just as children are preparing for the new school year.

The Kyiv city office said Monday it was likely that lessons will be disrupted and urged parents to discuss with their children “some simple yet important issues – how they should act in the event of an alert, where they should take shelter, and what they should do if they are caught in a dangerous situation on their way to school.”

“In the current circumstances, this is just as much a part of preparing for the new school year as packing a school bag or getting the school uniform ready,” it said.

The Chess Game of Innovation

For now, Zelensky has acknowledged, it is mainly combat aircraft that protect against the jet-powered drones. But Ukraine’s small air force is already stretched, and using fighter jets against the drones is expensive.

And so the race is on in yet another episode of the leapfrog technology race that has characterized the nearly five-year war.

Four companies have developed relevant interceptor drones, one of which had “the most successful technology,” Zelensky said on the weekend. Field trials have already begun on all four contenders, according to Defense Minister Evgeniy Khmara. “The aim is to bring these solutions up to the required level as quickly as possible and scale up production to thousands of units,” he said on Saturday.

But devising the technology and deploying it are two very different challenges. “Offensive capabilities always stay one step ahead of defensive ones,” said the deputy head of the President’s Office, Pavlo Palisa, on Friday. “We will certainly have to adapt. This will take time.”

One of the Ukrainian-made interceptors that is showing promise, called the Sting, is reported to have brought down two of the jet-powered drones in recent days.

Another Ukrainian company, F-Drones, has updated its interceptor. “Russia is now deploying jet-powered Shahed drones, so we built LITAVR+. The upgraded interceptor reaches speeds of over 400 km/h,” it said on X.

Countering jet-powered drones is also at the top of the agenda of former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who has begun a visit to the United States to explore areas of cooperation with defense technology companies “and organizations that can become partners in our new projects and help strengthen Ukraine.”

“We also plan to build new ventures from scratch around the technologies that are critically needed on the battlefield today,” Fedorov posted on X, including robotics to “remove personnel from the most dangerous front-line sectors,” and low-cost AI-guided missiles.

Russian Banderol targets Ukraine’s maritime corridor

The battle to win a technological edge in the conflict is never-ending. While Ukraine has successfully expanded its range of mid- and long-range strike drones, Russia has developed a cheap cruise missile it has dubbed the Banderol.

The five-meter- (16-foot-) long missile has a maximum speed of 385 to 405 miles per hour (620–650 kilometers an hour) and a reported range of up to 310 miles (500 kilometers). It carries a 330-pound (150-kilogram) warhead.

Its range is sufficient to cover much of southern Ukraine when launched from helicopters over Crimea. Dozens of Banderols have been used against the port of Odessa in recent weeks, interrupting Ukraine’s grain exports.

Since the beginning of August, Ukraine has exported 1.4 million tons of grain and oilseeds, according to Taras Vysotskyi, minister of agrarian policy – only about one-third of the potential export volume.

The Banderol attacks have significantly slowed operations along Ukraine’s maritime corridor through the Black Sea, Ukrainian Navy spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk said early in August. The constant attacks are making insurance for grain shipments too expensive, according to industry sources.

Analysts say the Russian military may be preparing to launch the Banderol from ground-based platforms as well as drones and helicopters.

Former Defense Minister Fedorov, who was dismissed by Zelensky in July and is now working in a private capacity, has warned that Ukraine is “gradually, slowly losing” the war.

While in Washington, he told the Financial Times that the situation changed month-to-month, but he warned that Russia’s recent air strikes and ever-intensifying use of missiles and advanced drones were critical challenges.

“Right now, if we don’t respond to these issues, they will smash us,” he said.

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