In Magura, they explained what helps crews shoot down Russian drones in the air

The 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade “Magura” discussed the operation of interceptor drones, aerial duels with Russian UAVs, and the factors that help crews destroy enemy targets.

According to Eduard Oleksiyenko, Russian forces are actively using their own interceptor drones. In particular, they are hunting down Ukrainian reconnaissance drones.

At the same time, Ukrainian crews are trying to protect their reconnaissance UAVs from enemy interceptors.

When asked how often aerial duels with Russian interceptors occur, the officer replied:

“They have happened and continue to happen almost every day,” said Eduard Oleksiyenko.

The military officer added that Ukrainian defenders detect and destroy Russian interceptor drones, both copter-type and aircraft-type.

Eduard Oleksienko identified three key components of a successful interception: the pilot, the navigator, and radar reconnaissance.

Radar reconnaissance provides the crew with information on the location of enemy drones. However, according to the military official, even a skilled pilot cannot effectively carry out the mission without the coordinated efforts of all crew members.

“It’s not the case that a good pilot will always shoot down the target 100 percent of the time. If there’s even a slight lapse in someone’s performance somewhere in this chain, it makes the mission much more difficult,” the officer explained.

Thus, the outcome of an aerial duel depends not only on the pilot’s skill but also on the speed at which information is received and the navigator’s performance.

Speaking about the selection of operators, Eduard Oleksienko agreed that experience with video games and quick reaction times can be useful when operating interceptor drones.

“Almost every pilot was 100 percent involved with video games,” the officer noted.

According to him, what might previously have been seen as an excessive obsession with video games can now help military personnel during combat missions, particularly thanks to their quick reactions and piloting skills.

According to the military official, to more effectively destroy maneuvering aerial targets, it is first and foremost necessary to improve the flight characteristics of interceptor drones.

Eduard Oleksienko explained that a drone’s speed is of critical importance when pursuing a target.

The faster the interceptor drone is, the less time the enemy UAV will have to react and maneuver.

That is why the development of high-speed interceptors is one of the areas of focus for improving such systems.

At the same time, Eduard Oleksienko disagreed with the assumption that interceptor drones will be able to completely replace traditional short-range air defense systems in the future.

According to the officer, the enemy is constantly looking for ways to counter Ukrainian weapons systems. In response, the Ukrainian military is forced to develop and implement new solutions.

He identified jet-powered UAVs, which have a higher speed compared to many other types of drones, as a separate challenge.

According to Eduard Oleksiyenko, short-range air defense systems, particularly man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS), are currently also being used to counter such targets.

This was reported on Army FM radio by Second Lieutenant Eduard Oleksienko, deputy commander of the UAV interceptor battery of the 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade “Magura.”

On the night of September 30, Russia launched a massive attack on Ukraine, using ballistic and anti-ship missiles, as well as 188 attack drones. Ukrainian air defense neutralized 160 aerial targets.

Starting in the evening of September 29, Russian forces attacked three districts in the Dnipropetrovsk region with drones. The strikes damaged infrastructure and caused fires.

On the morning of September 30, Russian forces attacked Ukraine with drones. During an air raid alert, explosions were heard in Rivne and later in Lutsk.

A drone strike in the Kyiv region caused a fire in residential buildings; two people were rescued.

As a reminder, debris from a Russian drone caused a fire in a five-story building in Kyiv.

Following the Russian Federation’s nighttime attack on Kyiv, an educational institution was hit.