Exclusive: Ukraine's partners could access new tech to counter jet-powered drones, Budanov tells Euronews
Countries with existing drone cooperation agreements with Kyiv could negotiate access to Ukraine’s latest technology for countering Russia’s new jet-powered drones, Kyrylo Budanov told Euronews.
Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine's presidential office, revealed to Euronews that Ukraine is actively utilizing its new interceptor technology against Russian jet-powered drones in combat. However, scaling production for widespread distribution remains a primary challenge. Ukraine has formed agreements with several countries, including Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, the Netherlands, and Denmark, under the "Drone Deals."
These agreements facilitate joint production, technology transfer, and military expertise exchange. As Ukraine rapidly expanded its drone industry, it began employing cheaper interceptor drones to counter Russia’s conventional Shahed-type attack drones, which were faster than Ukraine's previous interceptors limited to around 300 km/h.
To address the speed advantage of the new Russian drones capable of reaching up to 500 km/h, Ukraine has accelerated the development of faster interceptors specifically designed to tackle this threat. Formerly intercepting Russian drones with a success rate of over 90%, Ukraine's interception rate against jet-powered drones stands at around 57%.
The technology could potentially be integrated into existing partnerships, as any country that has entered into similar "Drone Deals" with Ukraine has the right to continue negotiations on specific products. The urgency to counter faster drones is evident, with soldiers reporting as little as 10-15 seconds to react to incoming threats due to the speed and altitude of these Russian drones.
Written by urgent.news from Euronews's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
