Russian jet-powered drones fly at nearly 400 km/h: Ukraine is developing new interception systems

Ukrainian military are deploying innovative means of intercepting Russian jet-powered drones capable of reaching speeds of around 400 km/h. As the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine explains, these targets pose a serious challenge to air defence: their high speed significantly reduces the time available to detect and destroy them. According to mod.gov.ua.

“The enemy sends small groups of several jet-powered drones to different regions. To counter these targets, Ukraine uses, among other things, aircraft and is developing innovative interception systems,” the Ministry of Defence said.

According to the ministry, Russian forces are increasingly using this new tactic, sending groups simultaneously. Details of the new interception technologies have not yet been disclosed. Meanwhile, countering ballistic missiles remains one of the most difficult tasks for Ukraine’s air defence.

Separately, the Ministry of Defence summed up the work of the air defence forces in September 2026. Over the course of the month, they intercepted more than 4,700 aerial targets. This figure does not include tactical-level drones, of which Ukrainian defenders neutralised more than 48,000.

According to the Ukrainian Air Force, the targets intercepted during the month included:

• 24 Kh-101 cruise missiles;
• 8 Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles;
• 12 Kalibr cruise missiles;
• 6 Kh-59/69 guided air-to-surface missiles;
• 6 Iskander-K cruise missiles;
• 8 Zircon anti-ship missiles;
• 86 S8000 Banderoль jet-powered drones;
• 2,722 Shahed-131/136 attack drones;
• 1,935 Shahed-238 attack drones;
• 1,009 reconnaissance drones;
• 719 Lancet drones.

The destruction of Russian missiles and drones was carried out by various components of the Defence Forces of Ukraine:

• aviation;
• anti-aircraft missile units;
• electronic warfare systems;
• unmanned systems units;
• mobile fire groups.

We previously reported:

• Jet-powered Shaheds are harder to shoot down: interception effectiveness is 57%
• AI, automatic targeting and 416 km/h: Ukraine develops a new Zorelit v5 drone interceptor
• A €1 million ballistic missile interceptor instead of exorbitantly expensive Patriot missiles: how ready is FREYJA?
• A swarm of naval drones against Shaheds: Denmark is preparing €12 million in defences for Odesa
• Aircraft against Shaheds: Ukraine sends anti-drone “sharks” into the sky