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A record 33,000 enemy UAVs were destroyed by interceptor drones in March — double the number recorded in the previous month

A Shahed-type drone, damaged and engulfed in flames, against the evening sky
Interceptor drones have emerged as a key component of Ukraine’s air defense

In March, interceptor drones downed more than 33,000 enemy unmanned aerial vehicles of various types, including Shahed, Gerbera, Molniya, ZALA, Orlan, and others — twice as many as in February.

This was reported by Ukraine’s Minister of Defence, Mykhailo Fedorov, following a meeting with manufacturers of interceptor drones. The meeting aimed to gather industry feedback and identify next steps to strengthen the protection of Ukraine’s skies.

“Interceptor drones are a Ukrainian innovation that has already emerged as a key component of our air defense,” said Mykhailo Fedorov.

Key challenges in countering Shahed-type UAVs

According to the Minister, the key challenge is jet-powered Shahed drones. The enemy is ramping up the use of these drones, making their interception more difficult.

“Our task is to find a technological solution. Together with manufacturers, we assessed their products and level of readiness, identified bottlenecks, and synchronized efforts to enable rapid scaling,” the Minister said.

Recently, under the EU4UA Defence Tech grant programme jointly implemented with the EU, the Brave1 defense tech cluster supported 12 technologies. Companies are set to receive up to €150,000 to develop high-speed interceptor drones (450+ km/h) and advanced systems for countering aerial targets.

At the President’s direction, the parties also discussed the following matters:

  • contracting for 2026;
  • training of pilots;
  • test ranges;
  • shortage of ground control stations;
  • exports;
  • updates to performance evaluation criteria under the “Army of Drones Bonus” program.

Solutions are being developed for each of the matters raised.

Building and scaling the interceptor drone market

To build and scale the interceptor drone market, the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine has taken several systemic steps:

  1. A unique model for rewarding companies for intercepting Shahed drones has been launched. It was within this initiative that a Shahed UAV was intercepted for the first time by an interceptor drone.
  2. Since 2024, Brave1, Ukraine’s defense tech cluster, has awarded more than 40 grants to manufacturers. Currently, the cluster brings together around 100 interceptor drone manufacturers.
  3. The Brave1 Dataroom has been launched — a platform for the training and validation of AI models. Currently, more than 30 companies are testing, validating, and training over 50 AI models for the detection and interception of aerial targets under varying time-of-day and weather conditions.

Tasks for interceptor drone manufacturers

During the meeting, Mykhailo Fedorov set two key tasks for interceptor drone manufacturers:

  • to develop and scale jet-powered interceptor drone technologies to counter jet-powered Shahed UAVs;
  • to develop alternative terminal guidance systems for operation in adverse weather conditions;

The state, operating within a transparent market framework, is ready to rapidly procure new technologies from manufacturers capable of effectively carrying out these tasks and helping to protect Ukraine’s skies.

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