Ukraine's air defense major challenge is to find cheapest way to down Shaheds - Katkov, Defense Express editor-in-chief 

He expressed this opinion on the Espreso TV channel

"We have long been trying not to shoot down the Shaheds with expensive surface-to-air missiles. Especially when it comes to the Patriot air defense system. According to various estimates, the cost of Iranian drones ranges from 20 to 50 thousand dollars. Whereas, for example, a missile for the Patriot system costs more than $4 million. If we are talking about the AIM-120 missile for the Nasams complex, its cost is more than $1 million. That is why the cost of shooting down the Shahed with these missiles is not commensurate," Katkov explained.

The expert emphasized that Ukraine is working to create the cheapest way to shoot down the Shahed.

"The main task for Ukrainian air defence today is to create the conditions to shoot down the Shaheds as cheaply as possible. Spending expensive missiles on them is simply inappropriate. After all, if we shoot down Shaheds with anti-ballistic missiles, what will we use to shoot down ballistic missiles? However, anti-aircraft guns have been used in Ukraine for quite some time to effectively destroy the Shahed," he added.

• On June 15, Oleksii Reznikov, Minister of Defence attended a meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine's Defence in the Ramstein format: according to him, very important news about the Bird Coalition was announced.