Ukraine can build unique anti-drone system, but time is key — expert Samus

This was stated by Mykhailo Samus, director of the New Geopolitics Research Network and co-founder of the Defense Information Consortium, in a comment to Espreso.

Every night, Russia attacks Ukrainian cities with hundreds of strike drones. In June 2025 alone, Russia carried out 2,736 Shahed drone attacks on Ukraine. According to Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR), Russian drone production could rise to 190 units per day by the end of the year.

“Ukraine can create a unique anti-drone defense system that will become not only an air shield for our state but also a model for our allies. But this requires mobilization of political will, funding, research centers, and production capacity,” Samus noted.

Among new means of intercepting drones, he named light aircraft, helicopters, interceptor drones, turrets, artificial intelligence, and more.

The most ambitious direction, he said, could be the development and combat use of Ukrainian interceptor drones that have already been presented and tested in combat. In particular, he mentioned the Sting quadcopter, developed by the Wild Hornets group: it is controlled in FPV mode, reaches speeds of up to 200 km/h, flies up to 3 km high, and uses AI systems for target guidance.

“Confirmed combat use of the Sting during real Shahed attacks shows that Ukraine is capable of creating its own effective tools to counter modern threats,” Samus believes. He stressed the need to rapidly scale up production of interceptor drones and integrate them into the Air Force, the Drone Systems Forces, mobile fire groups, and other structures, as well as to ensure government incentives for their production.

“In a multi-level concept for countering Shaheds, each platform has its tactical task. Turboprop aircraft for long patrols and interception at a distance; helicopters for mobile response to identified threats; AI-enabled turrets for protecting infrastructure and settlements; interceptor drones for the widest range of tasks—from working on outer perimeters to destroying targets near key facilities,” Samus explained.

However, he emphasized that beyond the tools themselves, it is crucial to link them into a single integrated system. Ukraine should look to Israel’s example, where “the comprehensive integration of all sensors, strike assets, and command posts has created an effective multi-layered defense system.” Without this, any technical advantage would be undermined by fragmented responses.

But the main challenge remains time. “Success in a new type of war depends not only on the ability to defend, but also on the ability to adapt faster than the enemy. Lost time has already cost us too much. Further delays are unacceptable. The enemy has already adapted. Now it’s time for decisive action on our part,” the expert concluded.