Ukraine implements low-cost technology to hunt enemy aerial reconnaissance
Occupying forces are actively expanding the capabilities of their “Rubikon” drone unit, planning to prepare an additional 50,000 crews over the course of this year.
The Ukrainian Defence Forces emphasize that control of the skies is decisive for holding positions and securing logistics routes.
However, Ukrainian defenders have already developed an effective countermeasure to the enemy threat — the use of specialized anti-air FPV drones.
Soldiers of the 93rd Separate Mechanized Brigade “Kholodnyi Yar” successfully hunt Russian reconnaissance drones such as Orlan, Zala, and modernized Storm models.
The anti-air interceptor is externally a standard small drone, but it has specific settings to achieve extremely high speed and maneuverability. Mission success depends entirely on the pilot’s skill and the battery capacity, as enemy targets often perform complex maneuvers.
Operators work in real time, launching intercepts immediately after an enemy object appears in the monitoring system.
“The Zala evasive drones, as we call them, when you approach the target, it sees the interceptor drone and starts wild maneuvers,” explains Artem, a fighter from the 93rd Brigade.
According to him, reconnaissance drones initially dive sharply downward and then try to escape at maximum speed.
The economic efficiency of this method is impressive: a drone costing about 50,000 hryvnias can destroy an enemy aircraft valued at 100,000 dollars.
Kholodnyi Yar troops display the wreckage of downed Orlans, which are nearly human-sized but turn into scrap after a single hit. Particularly valuable trophies are drones equipped with Starlink terminals, which previously provided the enemy with reliable communications.
Currently, intelligence reports the emergence of new Russian Storm drones capable of carrying up to 25 kg of payload. This significantly exceeds the capabilities of previous models and poses a serious threat to Ukrainian logistics hubs in the rear.
However, pilots of the anti-air units assure that most of these heavy drones can be neutralized before reaching their target.
As a reminder, Ukraine is developing all-weather interceptor drones with artificial intelligence.
Additionally, in the Kupiansk direction, Ukrainian forces destroyed a camouflaged MT-LB armoured vehicle and enemy drones.
