The Armed Forces of Ukraine have formed a new command for unmanned air defense systems to counter Russian strike drones. To this end, officers with combat experience have been assigned to the Air Force command, and appropriate management decisions have been made.
This was announced by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi.
The command was created to develop the so-called “small air defense” sector. According to the commander-in-chief, “small air defense” is one of the most dynamic and technologically advanced areas of modern warfare. Accordingly, decisions here must be quick, clear, and unconventional.
Additional crews are being trained in this area, and hundreds of unmanned aerial vehicle crews have already been transferred to the operational control of the Air Force. They are performing tasks in the first to third echelons of interception of Russian “suicide drones,” while anti-drone protection of key administrative centers in frontline regions is being strengthened.
“The additional involvement of army aviation is also continuing. In total, army aviation helicopters have already destroyed 5,830 enemy air attack vehicles,” the general said, without specifying the period.
Syrsky noted that the effectiveness of this direction depends not only on the professionalism of the military, but also on the pace of work of Ukrainian and European manufacturers, as well as the supply of radar stations, unmanned complexes, and interceptor drones from Western partners.
He also stressed that the Russian army is constantly improving its weapons, in particular, equipping strike drones with Starlink satellite communication terminals, using complex weather conditions and other tactical solutions.
Earlier, Syrsky stated that in 2026, Russia plans to significantly increase the production of drones for strikes against Ukraine in order to use up to 1,000 units of this weaponry daily.