The Ukrainian military is moving to fully deploy a ‘killer drone’ designed to capture Russian drones on the battlefield. Its most notable feature is overwhelming flight speed. The aim is to ram into Russian drones approaching through the air to bomb Ukrainian cities, in order to prevent human and material damage.

The Ministry of National Defense of Ukraine recently announced via social media that it had officially decided to begin full-scale deployment of the domestically developed drone ‘Shvydun’ to shoot down Russian drones. Shvydun weighs about 8㎏ and has a wingspan of 2ｍ. It flies powered by a single propeller.

At present, the Ukrainian military is fielding numerous drones in combat against Russian forces. However, most are civilian drones adapted for military use. Given the urgent battlefield situation, it has mobilized as much civilian equipment as possible that can serve as weapons.

Many civilian drones are rotorcraft, with propellers oriented skyward like a helicopter. They have the advantage of vertical takeoff and landing, but they are slow. Their top speed rarely exceeds 150㎞ per hour.

This is why the Ministry of National Defense of Ukraine decided to deploy Shvydun to the battlefield. As a fixed-wing aircraft, Shvydun is fast. It reaches a maximum of 250㎞ per hour. It is a drone developed from the outset as a military platform with aerial combat in mind for the Ukrainian military.

The adversary envisioned for Shvydun is the Russian ‘Shahed’. The Shahed mission is crash attacks against urban infrastructure, a kind of bomber. The Shahed maximum speed is 190㎞, slower than Shvydun (250㎞ per hour). The Ukrainian military intends to use Shvydun like an interceptor to shoot down Shaheds rushing toward its cities in the sky.

Shvydun does not carry weapons that add to airframe weight, such as machine guns. Once a Shahed is identified, it simply charges in and rams it. Given the very high speed, a solid collision is highly likely to bring the Shahed down.

Before officially deciding on combat deployment, the Ministry of National Defense of Ukraine operated Shvydun on a trial basis for several months. As a result, it shot down more than 100 Russian drones. Initial operational capability has been demonstrated. Ukraine has thus gained an important means of defending its cities against Russian drone attacks.

To fight effectively in the air, the Ministry of National Defense of Ukraine has equipped Shvydun with a device that automatically compensates for vibrations occurring during flight. This allows the pilot remotely controlling Shvydun from a ground control station to see live video from the onboard camera more clearly. It is similar to a smartphone camera image-stabilization function. The technology increases the chances of winning in aerial combat.

The Ministry of National Defense of Ukraine stated, “The operational radius of Shvydun is 70㎞.” It is more than three times larger than civilian drones converted for military use. Attention is now on how well Shvydun will protect Ukrainian cities from Russian drone attacks going forward.