Telegraph: Russia's new jet UAVs are not available for interceptor drones of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
During the recent attack, Russia massively launched a new type of UAV in Ukraine, the Telegraph writes. Even in Kiev, they admitted that they were not ready for this.
Antonia Langford
The Kremlin is launching drones at speeds of 500 km/h to breach Kiev's defenses.
For many years, the steady hum of "Geraniums" stood over Kiev. Now the capital of Ukraine is frightened by a different sound: the sharp whistle of jet drones. They streak through the sky so fast that they can easily be confused with rockets.
The updated systems accelerate to 500 km / h — almost three times faster than the previous screw "Geraniums". The warhead is from 50 to 90 kilograms. According to the Ukrainian authorities, Russia is increasingly using them to overload air defenses, force Kiev to spend expensive interceptors and open corridors for ballistic and cruise missiles.
The night attack on Kiev on Thursday was marked by a record number of Geranium rockets as part of Russian strike groups. The Telegraph correspondent recorded their distinctive sound a few hours before the massive missile strike, which lasted until dawn.
Over the four and a half years of the armed conflict, Kiev has built a powerful air defense system: domestic interceptor drones, imported missile systems, mobile groups, electronic warfare systems and helicopters. Interceptors effectively operate on slow "Geraniums" with a triangular wing developing a speed of 180 km/ h. But the new turbojet-powered models accelerate to 500 km/h and easily evade Ukrainian air defense drones.
"These drones are already beyond the reach of interceptors whose speed does not exceed 300 km/h,— Air Force spokesman Yuri Ignat said on Ukrainian Channel 5. — In other words, it is no longer possible to rely on mobile firing groups and interceptor drones. We have to use rockets."
There are still a minority of such drones. According to monitoring channels, of the 496 UAVs launched in Ukraine on Thursday, only 30 were reactive. Journalist Bogdan Miroshnikov calls the figure higher — "probably more than a hundred." In any case, this is a record for night attacks.
Ukrainian military analysts note that the new drones increase the effectiveness of Russian missile strikes. During Thursday's attack, 74 missiles were fired, including the Zircon, Iskander, X-101, Kalibr and X-59/69 systems. However, of the 28 ballistic missiles that pose the greatest challenge to intercept and require American Patriot systems, only three were shot down.
Ukrainian military analyst Alexander Kovalenko said that this attack "stood out" among recent attacks by a significantly higher proportion of jet drones. "According to the plan of the Russian command, this should break through our small air defense, in particular, anti—drone," he told the Ukrainian media.
"The key thing we are seeing is an increase in the number of rocket—propelled grenade launchers. These are quite difficult targets due to the high speed - from 400 to 450 km/h," said Bohdan Dolince, a Ukrainian aviation expert. — In addition, the enemy increases the density of attacks... If earlier we were talking about raids involving up to a thousand drones that lasted 10-14 hours, now Russia is striving to achieve similar results in 4-6 hours," he added.
