Ukraine's drone-on-drone war is kicking into high gear

"Ukraine finally looks like it's about to build the interceptor drone arsenal it needs, shifting the world closer to a new type of air defense battle in which waves of drones fight each other. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday that his country should reach a daily production of 600 to 800 of the inexpensive but speedy quadcopters - designed to destroy Russian attack drones in flight - by the end of November."

""I said that in the fall, there will be up to 1,000 interceptors produced per day. Of course, it's not an easy story," Zelenskyy told reporters. "We believe that by the end of November, there will be 600 to 800 interceptor drones produced per day, if nothing goes wrong." That's as long as there aren't any disruptions from Russian attacks or sabotage, the Ukrainian leader added."

"Interceptor drones are uncrewed aerial systems specifically made to be maneuverable and fast enough to chase and crash into an incoming attack drone, sometimes while carrying an explosive payload. They're a far cheaper alternative to Western surface-to-air missiles, which can cost up to millions of dollars each, and that's why Kyiv wants more of the high-speed drones. Russia is increasingly trying to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses by launching hundreds of Shahed attack drones and Gerbera decoys in one night, often also firing advanced missiles in tandem."

Ukraine aims to scale production of inexpensive, high-speed quadcopter interceptor drones to roughly 600–800 per day by the end of November. These uncrewed systems are built to chase and collide with incoming attack drones, sometimes carrying explosive payloads, and offer a far cheaper alternative to costly Western surface-to-air missiles. Russia frequently attempts to overwhelm defenses by launching massed Shahed attack drones and decoys alongside missiles, prompting Kyiv to mass-produce interceptors. The revised target is below an earlier 1,000-per-day goal and remains vulnerable to disruption from strikes or sabotage. Large-scale interceptors could shift air defense toward drone-versus-drone engagements.

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