Ukraine’s race against Russia’s new super-fast Geran drones: fighter jets, AI turrets and new interceptors

Berlin. “We improve, they improve. Then we improve again. It’s war; that’s how it is.” So says Mechanic, an interceptor drone pilot, whom we met in September on the front line in the Kharkiv Oblast. Speaking with him and with soldiers from other anti-drone units, the situation is clear: for months, Russian jet-powered drones have been posing a challenge to Ukrainian interception efforts. The new models, the Geran-4 and Geran-5, fly at speeds of up to 500 and 600 km/h respectively, and the Geran-5 can climb to an altitude of 6,000 metres. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Ukraine manages to shoot down 50–55 per cent of these drones, compared with 85–92 per cent of the older, conventional Shahed models. In September, Moscow launched over 3,000 jet-powered drones and is producing almost as many every month. To stop them, Kyiv now often relies on fighter jets and missiles. It now also intends to deploy AI-powered turrets, jet-powered interceptors and small anti-aircraft missiles.

Russian Shahed drones are launching mass attacks across the country and are being used in increasingly lethal assaults against the population. The drone that struck near the Yahodyn border crossing with Poland in late September was a Geran-5. Jet-powered drones targeted bridges in Kyiv between 1 and 4 October. In October, Ukrainian intelligence documented a new version of the Geran-4, fitted with a cutting warhead specifically designed to destroy bridges and pylons.

Over the past year, the Ukrainians have shot down many propeller-driven Shahed drones through drone-versus-drone operations, i.e. by striking them or causing them to explode using interceptors (such as quadcopters like the Sting). But now, according to reports from the front line, the jet-powered Geran drones can only be hit by a conventional interceptor drone from the front – a very difficult manoeuvre – or whilst turning, when they briefly slow down. The same applies to ground-based machine guns: Ukrainian mobile teams used to have around a minute to man their heavy machine guns and fire, but against the new Geran drones they now have only 10–15 seconds. As conventional solutions prove less effective against the Geran-4 and 5, Ukraine must increasingly resort to heavy-duty responses such as fighter jets. F-16s shoot down the drones with AIM-9 and AIM-120 missiles. It is expensive, but lives are worth more, Zelensky said recently. Even the old Soviet MiG-29s are playing their part. When missiles are in short supply, pilots use the on-board cannon: another risky manoeuvre, as it forces them to get close to the drone and its explosion. Surface-to-air missile systems can also be used against super-fast drones: they are effective, but a single missile can cost anywhere from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars (far more than the Geran-5 it is designed to shoot down, estimated at around 115,000 dollars, and far more than a conventional interceptor drone, which costs just a few thousand).

The focus is therefore on the latest solutions. On 5 October, the Ukrainian Air Force announced that a new type of AI-guided machine-gun turret had shot down the first Geran-5s. Computer vision tracks the target and calculates the point of interception, with the aim of eliminating human error. However, the turrets’ range may be a limitation. One of the most eagerly awaited solutions is the new generation of ultra-fast interceptor drones, some of which are jet-powered, just like the Russian drones they are designed to stop. In August, the Alexa Spatium entered service, described as Ukraine’s first turbojet-powered interceptor, whilst promising results are reportedly coming from the Bars interceptors and the new Sting S. None of these anti-drone drones are, however, yet in mass production: engines, in particular, are in short supply, and Ukraine often still has to import them. Meanwhile, Zelensky has announced a Ukrainian programme for small, low-cost anti-aircraft missiles designed to counter jet-powered drones: the first results are expected in the coming weeks.

On 4 October, German Chancellor Merz arrived in Kyiv with a package worth over 1.3 billion euros: the funding is expected to include the production of interceptors specifically designed to counter jet-powered Shahed drones. With German funding, Quantum Systems intends to produce several tens of thousands of ‘Spys’ interceptors in Ukraine. The €1.24 billion in funding disbursed by the European Commission on 7 October will also go towards drones, interceptors, drone munitions and missiles produced by Ukrainian companies. Ukraine has not yet found a decisive solution against the Russians’ new super-fast drones. However, Mechanic, who fights every day from hidden positions in the Kharkiv region, has already stated what is needed: “They improve, then we improve again.”