Russia rushing to make its own interceptor drones, general warns

 Maj. Gen. Volodymyr Havrylov, who served as deputy defense minister from 2022 to 2023, told NV Radio on June 3 that interceptor drones have proven a cheap and effective way to defend against a wide range of unmanned systems, from reconnaissance and mid-size strike drones to loitering munitions.

“For defending against drones there aren’t many options — you need a layered air-defense system, which they [the Russians] had in 2022–23,” said Havrylov.

“But because they lost so many air-defense systems over that period, the Russians simply don’t have the means to cover key logistics. They lost many systems on the front line, and they have pulled many back to protect their infrastructure from deep strikes, which are only increasing now.”

Havrylov predicted Russia will mimic Ukrainian tactics by widely deploying interceptor drones and other systems.

“They’re also making interceptor drones …; We must assume that in one, two or three months they will have something, but by that time we must have something that effectively counters their efforts to copy us,” the officer said.

“We must actively use this three-, four-, five-month advantage.”