Just a year ago, 30 Russian drones flying to Ukraine in one night were something extraordinary, but now the Russian army fires hundreds of such machines a day. On Sunday, Russia probably broke the record by sending 298 drones and 69 ballistic missiles.
If the negotiations regarding the suspension of the weapon ends in failure, which seems very likely, Ukrainian anti -aircraft defense units will have to ration to ration of interception shells. More Russian rockets and drones will break through the defense to hit cities and critical industrial facilities – said “Economist”.
Ballistic shells play a key role in severe Russian attacksmany of which come from North Korea. They are difficult to capture because of their speed. Ukraine can shoot them only with the help of Patriot systems, but the supply of PAC-3 capture shells melt.
The next weapon used on an increasing scale are new, improved Shaheda combat drones, which were modified six timessince Iran provided Russia in 2023. In the latest version, drones use machine learning to hit strongly defended places, such as Kiev.
Russia breaks records. She found a way for Ukrainian air defense
The main challenge for Ukrainian anti -aircraft defense are the numbers of drones and shells fired by Russia. Last year, Russia needed a month to produce 300 shapeds, and currently it takes it less than three days. Ukrainian military intelligence reported that Moscow is planning to increase production to 500 a day, which would allow attacks using up to a thousand unmanned aerial vehicles.
Fragments of drones falling to Ukraine are subjected to detailed research in terms of technological changes. One of the biggest worries for Ukrainian engineers is the way to control new machines. They no longer rely on the GPS signal, which can be disturbed, but use artificial intelligence and Ukrainian cellular networks.
Until recently, mobile teams armed with cheap machine guns, portable rocket sets and short -range artillery dealt with drones hunting. Now drones often pass such defense. In response, Ukraine uses helicopters, F-16 fighters and capture drones against them. A high -ranking Ukrainian official reported that about 95 percent were shot down. Russian drones, but the 5 percent that breaks through, causes great damage.
“Economist” emphasized that it is more difficult to stop ballistic missiles. In the Western world, American Patriot systems are a practical monopolist in this area. Ukraine currently has at least eight batteries of this system, but at any time some of them are repaired. However, they are focused mainly in the vicinity of Kiev, and President Wołodymyr Zelanski estimates that at least 10 more batteries are needed.
Ukraine is not a priority for Donald Trump's administration
After the change of administration in the USA, Ukraine, however, lost his priority and for the government of Donald Trump is only one of many potential merchants, striving for limited production of interception shells. Lockheed Martin increases the production capacity to 650 pieces a year, but it is still 100 less than the forecast production of ballistic missiles in Russia – noted the British weekly.
Ukraine asked for the possibility of PAC-3 missiles under a license, but he realizes that this is not likely. Such bullets are also to be created in Germany, but only from the end of 2026 other joint projects are planned, but in none of them a breakthrough will take place in the next year.
