Drones fight other drones in the battle for Ukraine's skies

As Ukraine uses interceptors to hit Russian drones, the best pilots are often videogame aces

- Alistair Maccior

The Russian drone hovered above the wounded Ukrainian soldier, ready to drop a bomblet to finish him off. Suddenly, a Ukrainian drone smashed into the Russian craft, blowing it up and saving the soldier.

The close call showed the latest development in the futuristic aerial war shaping the front lines of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: drone-on-drone battles.

Drone pilots—like the one from Ukraine’s3rd Separate Assault Brigade who swooped in this spring—fly interceptors at high speeds close to or into Russian drones and trigger an explosion to bring them down.

Countering the enemy’s drones has become an critical challenge for both sides, as the craft have become the deadliest weapons menacing infantry and vehicles on the front lines. Soldiers use a variety of means—from nets and shotguns to electronic jammers and aging prop planes—to take out drones.

Interceptor craft have become an important part of the mix in the past year or so.

“Nobody believed that it could be possible at all” 15 months ago, said Artem Boliukh, chief of the brigade’s air-defense unit. Boliukh said that drones hadn't been used in this way before and engineers had to solve technical issues such as range, the ability to recover drones and the safety of operators. Also, pilots must learn how to find and engage the target in a very narrow window of time.

“Modern warfare changes very quickly,” he said.

In September, the brigade’s drones intercepted 886 Russian drones, up from 507 in June. Around 50% of missions result in a successful interception, Boliukh said, compared with 5% a year ago. When an interceptor doesn’t hit its target, the operator is usually able to bring it back to be used again.