Ukraine's commander-in-chief announces decisions to strengthen countermeasures against Russian UAVs

Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, has said that the military is developing new effective ways to counter Russian attack UAVs and drawing conclusions from the latest drone strikes on Ukraine.

Source: Syrskyi on social media

Quote from Syrskyi: "We are drawing conclusions from the recent large-scale attacks by enemy Shahed drones. The enemy is changing its tactics – we are adapting our actions accordingly and developing new effective ways to counter attack UAVs.

We are increasing the number of interceptor drone crews and intensifying the training of soldiers. These and other issues were discussed during a working meeting on countering enemy UAVs."

Details: The commander-in-chief said that organisational changes are also being introduced to strengthen the protection of Ukrainian cities, towns and critical infrastructure.

According to Syrskyi, in March the command of air defence unmanned systems was reorganised into the command of direct air defence cover forces. The command operates within the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and is responsible for the development and use of "small air defence", equipment modernisation and personnel training.

"At present, this structure is gaining operational capabilities and is receiving the designated forces and assets," Syrskyi said.

The commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine also said that in March the number of combat sorties by interceptor drones and the number of targets destroyed increased by almost 55% compared to February.

Quote: "Since the beginning of spring, our interceptor UAVs have already destroyed more than 2,300 enemy aerial assets. Ukrainian-made drones demonstrate the highest efficiency. We are ready to share this experience with international partners."

Details: At the same time, Syrskyi pointed to the need to further increase the number of interceptor UAVs, in particular those equipped with automatic guidance systems. "The enemy is not stopping its attacks – on the contrary, it is increasing production, modernising its drones and improving their use," he added.

In addition, since the beginning of March, helicopters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have destroyed 379 Russian attack drones. Anti-aircraft missile troops, mobile fire groups and separate anti-aircraft machine gun battalions are also effectively engaging targets.

"I heard a report on the implementation of the anti-drone protection project for key administrative centres in the oblasts. We are paying particular attention to the introduction of artificial intelligence and increasing the level of automation in the use of air defence systems – both for interceptor drones and for aviation and ground-based fire assets," Syrskyi said.

Background:

• On 15 March, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the priority task for Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov is to close the sky, which involves creating Ukraine's own air defence system.
• Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger, in an interview with The Atlantic, said that there is no innovation in drones produced in Ukraine and compared them to a game of Lego.
• Later, the German defence concern Rheinmetall expressed support for Ukraine after a wave of outrage over remarks by its CEO Armin Papperger, who described Ukrainian drones as "Lego bricks" created by "housewives with 3D printers".

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