Ukraine is arming itself in the drone war. Among other things, a system called “Shahed Catcher” is supposed to intercept Iranian kamikaze drones by “blinding” them. The next step is “drones that intercept drones,” says Digital Minister Fedorov. And all Ukrainians can participate in the defense via an app.
The Iranian kamikaze drones are currently one of the greatest challenges in the war against the Russian invaders in Ukraine. Generally speaking, the unmanned delta-wing aircraft are fairly easy to shoot down, but because they attack in swarms and at low altitude, enough of them bypass anti-aircraft defenses to cause major damage, especially to critical infrastructure. In addition, combating them with surface-to-air missiles or fighter jets is extremely expensive. The Ukrainian government is therefore planning to use much cheaper systems and wants to fight drones with drones in the future.
Both sides in the war are already using a large number of UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) and their importance is increasing. The next technological step is drone warfare, Ukrainian digital transformation minister Mykhailo Fedorov told Forbes Ukraine.
“The one who can scale up now in terms of management and production of combat drones on an industrial scale will win,” predicts Fedorov. “It’s about the expectation of receiving funding from the government or from volunteers, as well as management and skills. Over the next four to five months, we’re going to be looking at those very issues.”
Kyiv has recently ordered 1,033 drones from various manufacturers for the equivalent of around 54 million euros. According to Fedorov, 70 percent of these have been delivered so far. Among other things, “flying eyes” are important for the army. These are drones used to find targets and correct fire for modern long-range artillery, such as from HIMARS missile launchers. By the end of the year, 20 Puma and Pinguin systems are to be delivered, which are also used by NATO.
Ukraine also wants to increasingly produce its own drones. The Army recently introduced the Shark. According to “Gazeta.ua”, it is also primarily used to support western long-range weapons. However, it is not always easy for Ukrainian manufacturers to procure the necessary components in large quantities. It’s not a massive problem, says Mykhailo Fedorov. But for certain components, it can be difficult to get batches to produce more than 100 drones a month.
In order to achieve a “production boom” of Ukrainian drones, the government wants to remove bureaucratic hurdles and provide generous financial resources. “I think the next ‘bottleneck’ will be the fight for ideas, people and products,” suspects Fedorow. “But that’s the way it should be in a rapidly evolving industry.”
Ukraine can’t lose any more time fighting the Shahed-136 and other kamikaze drones, because large parts of the infrastructure have already been destroyed and winter is just around the corner. According to President Selenskyj, Moscow is said to have ordered a total of 2,400 Shahed-136s from Iran, and Russian mass production cannot be ruled out.
Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ignat said last Friday that 300 of the kamikaze drones had already been taken out of the sky, but too many of them were still hitting their target. For example, on Monday, six out of 50 Shahed-136 got through. As a result, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko, at times 80 percent of Kyiv’s residents had no water and 350,000 apartments had no electricity.
Air defense systems like the IRIS-T SL recently delivered by Germany are a short-term solution at best, although Ignat celebrated its 100% hit rate on Monday. Because the IRIS missiles are said to cost more than 400,000 euros each, which is why their use and similar systems for defense against cruise missiles et cetera must be reserved in order to remain affordable.
The price for a Shahed-136 is estimated at 20,000 to 50,000 euros. According to official data, in September Ukraine shot down 161 Shahed-136, one larger Shahed-129 and four even larger Mohajer-6 drones. According to the Guardian, military analysts estimate the total costs for Russia at just 11.7 to 18 million euros.
Ukraine used fighter jets and anti-aircraft missile systems for defense. Between September 13th and October 17th, the costs are said to have amounted to more than 28 million euros.
The so-called “Shahed Catcher” is said to be significantly cheaper. One initiative raised money for this through the sale of bracelets made from the last steel produced by Azov Steel in Mariupol. The target was the equivalent of around 2.25 million euros, for which two systems were to be purchased. According to Digital Minister Fedorov, the amount doubled in a short time.
What exactly the “Shahed Catcher” is has not yet been revealed by the Ukrainian leadership. Oleg Horochowski, co-founder of the “smartphone bank” Monobank involved in the initiative, explained when appealing for donations on Telegram that the systems in question are used by NATO countries.
According to “Euromaidan Press”, he later revealed something about how it works. Accordingly, such systems “blind” the drones, whereupon they try to reach a safe height. There they could then be shot down by air defense systems. In principle, it could be a weapon similar to the “Sky Wiper,” a jamming gun that Ukraine uses to bring conventional copter drones out of the sky.
In his interview with “Forbes”, Digital Minister Fedorov also speaks of “drones chasing drones.” It is not clear whether this is already “Shahed Catcher” or something of the future.
He may have also alluded to a further development of the Bayraktar TB2 and Ak?nc?s combat drones from the Turkish manufacturer Baykar. According to “Daily Sabah”, company founder Haluk Bayraktar said in a dpa interview that the two drones could soon be equipped with air-to-air missiles, with which they would also be able to attack enemy drones and aircraft. His company is already conducting tests.
No matter what weapon Ukraine uses against the kamikaze drones, all Ukrainians can now use an app to help them hit it. According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, ePPO (eAir defence) is only available for Android smartphones for the time being.
Users who see an airborne target, such as a cruise missile or a kamikaze drone, open the app, select the type of attacker, point their smartphone at it, and tap a red button. The air defense then sees a marking on a map, compares it with radar information and releases the flying object to be shot down.
