Russia used jet-powered drones against Ukraine every day in August — BBC
Russia, an aggressor state, used new high-speed jet-powered drones against Ukraine every day throughout August. This is the first month in which daily attacks using modernized Geran drones were recorded in data from Ukraine’s Air Force, BBC News World reports.
According to the Ukrainian military, the number of attacks involving jet-powered drones rose from 350 in June to 1,600 in July and 2,800 in August. During five nighttime attacks in August, there were more such drones than older and slower models.
Speed complicates interception
The new drones can reach speeds of more than 300 miles per hour, or about 480 km/h. This is significantly faster than previous models and exceeds the maximum speed of Ukrainian interceptors. The drones are equipped with turbojet engines, some of which, according to Ukrainian military intelligence, are supplied from China.
Marina Miron, a military technology expert at King’s College London, noted that jet-powered drones are harder to intercept precisely because of their higher speed. Deputy head of the Main Intelligence Directorate, Major General Vadym Skibitskyi, said on August 10 that Ukrainian forces need new interceptor missiles capable of matching the speed of such drones.
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Countermeasures and new launch sites
Officials in Kyiv told journalists that four Ukrainian companies had begun testing missiles capable of downing the new Geran models. Ukraine’s new Defense Minister Yevhenii Khmara instructed that production of “thousands of units” of such systems be established as quickly as possible.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said jet-powered drones were used during the wave of attacks on September 1, which killed at least 12 people and injured another 20. Six of those affected were railway workers following a strike on a depot in Kyiv.
According to Conflict Armament Research, jet-powered drones have not yet reached the level of cruise missiles: they have a shorter range, carry significantly smaller warheads, and are more vulnerable to electronic warfare. Satellite images appear to indicate the conversion of a new facility in Tsymbulova, Russia’s Oryol Oblast, about 175 km from the Ukrainian border, to house jet-powered drones.
