New sound of nighttime alerts: Threat of jet-powered drones

For the second night in a row, the Russian terrorist army has been attacking Ukraine using new jet-powered drones. These drones not only produce a different sound during flight but also present new challenges for Ukrainian air defenses.

“We're now hearing a new nighttime sound — the sound of a jet-powered "Shahed". Not yet in large numbers, but this is already the second night in a row,” wrote Serhii Beskrestnov, an expert in electronic warfare and communications systems, and head of the “Radio Technology Center,” known by the callsign “Flash,” on the evening of July 30.

According to him, the jet-powered "Shahed" is the enemy’s response to the success of Ukrainian anti-aircraft drones.

“There’s no information yet on how many of them will appear in the coming months,” the expert added.

Military analyst Denys Popovych noted that no anti-aircraft drone is capable of intercepting such aerial targets, which fly at speeds over 500 km/h.

“It’s impossible to shoot down a target flying at 500–600 km/h with a projectile that travels at 250–300 km/h — unless the operator gets extremely lucky and meets it on a perfect collision course,” he said.

According to Popovych, there are only two real options for countering these threats: long-range anti-aircraft artillery with radar guidance and fire control systems, and—critically—surface-to-air missiles.

“Jet-powered targets are most effectively destroyed by missiles. We need a highly unified solution across different platforms — the same missile used for MANPADS, as many ground-based launchers as possible, and aircraft-mounted systems,” he emphasized.

In addition, Popovych believes the time has come to move laser weapon systems out of the experimental stage. These could be particularly effective in urban settings for countering jet-powered UAVs.