The operator presses the button, then the drone does everything on its own: Ukrainians have upgraded their hunt for Shahed

Ukrainian interceptor drones are already capable of autonomously shooting down Russian strike UAVs of the Shahed type. The technology, which almost completely automates the interception process, was created by a member of the defense cluster Brave1. This was reported by the Minister of Digital Transformation and Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.

According to him, the new system automates 95% of the entire interception process – from launching the Ukrainian drone to destroying the enemy Shahed. The development has already passed a successful combat test in the Kharkiv region. This means the technology did not remain just a slick presentation or a laboratory prototype, but has already confirmed its effectiveness in real combat conditions.

The principle of operation looks like this: the operator sees target movement in real time, selects the desired target and gives the strike command. After that, the system independently guides the drone to the enemy UAV, autonomously recognizes the Shahed and homes in on it. At Brave1 the manufacturer managed to go the path from prototype to combat deployment in less than a year. Autonomy is considered one of the key directions in the development of modern air defense.

Such solutions are especially important against the backdrop of massive Russian drone attacks on Ukrainian cities. Shahed remains one of the main tools of Russia’s nightly terror: it is used against housing, energy, warehouses, hospitals, infrastructure facilities and frontline communities.

For Mykolaiv Oblast this topic is also not abstract. The region regularly experiences attacks by Shahed, FPV drones and UAVs of the “Molniya” type, and coastal communities are almost daily under threat of air strikes.

Scaling up autonomous interceptors could become an important step in strengthening “small-scale” air defense. The faster the system reacts to an enemy target, the greater the chance of shooting down a drone before it reaches homes, businesses or critical infrastructure. In fact, this is a new level of fighting Russian aerial terror: not just shooting down a Shahed with an expensive missile, but launching relatively cheaper Ukrainian solutions that can independently find and strike the target.

Mykhailo Fedorov noted that solutions that have already proven effective in combat conditions are being scaled up. And that means Ukrainian air defense is gradually moving from manual response to systems where a human makes the key decision and the technology takes on the most difficult part of the interception.

Previously, we wrote:

• Own Mavic analogue, striking figures and big promises from the new defense minister Fedorov
• “Drone revolution” by Ukrainians: why cheap devices proved more effective than expensive missiles
• Kim announced municipal production of drones to shoot down “Shaheds”
• Zelensky: Russia is cutting missile production and is betting on strike drones
• Ukrainian air defense on a “starvation diet”: Ihnat said there is a shortage of missiles for Patriot, NASAMS and IRIS-T