Russia has been adding rear-view cameras to some of its Shahed-type drones, allowing operators to see Ukrainian interceptors approaching from behind and take evasive action, a senior defense official told Business Insider.
Lt. Col. Yurii Myronenko, Ukraine’s deputy minister of defense for innovation, said Russia is “constantly testing” new deep-strike weapons, including modifying its Shahed-type drones and fielding new models.
“Some Shaheds have already been equipped with rear-view cameras to detect and respond to our interceptors,” said Myronenko, a former drone unit commander.
Ukrainian forces have previously discovered rear-facing cameras on Russian decoy and reconnaissance drones. The comments from Myronenko underscore how Moscow is continuing to adapt to one of Kyiv’s newest — and most-sought-after — air defense tools: interceptor drones.
Russia has been investing heavily in its drone operations over the past year. Its defense industry is producing thousands of drones modeled after the notorious Iranian-designed Shahed every month, and Moscow routinely launches hundreds of them at Ukraine in nighttime attacks.
Facing a worsening threat situation, Ukraine has turned to interceptor drones as a solution. The drones, designed to be low-cost, are made to hunt the cheap Shaheds, which carry an explosive warhead that can be highly destructive if it reaches its target, often in civilian areas.
Interceptor drones have eased the burden carried by Ukraine’s other air defenses, and Kyiv is now producing hundreds a day. Meanwhile, NATO militaries and some Western companies have been eyeing the technology as an opportunity for investment.
Western forces have also taken note of the Russian camera additions. US Army Sgt. Riley Hiner told Business Insider at a NATO event in Poland last week that Moscow has equipped its Shaheds with thermal seekers on the rear, allowing them to detect interceptor drones approaching from behind.
“Sometimes they’ll maneuver,” said Hiner, who has been involved in training NATO forces to use an interceptor drone that has logged extensive combat experience in Ukraine. It’s now being deployed to Poland and Romania following a string of Russian airspace violations in September.
When the threats maneuver, interceptor drone pilots have to adjust their speed and course, Hiner said.
The deployment of interceptor drones and Russia’s subsequent installation of cameras is a clear demonstration of what officials have described as a cycle of action and reaction in Ukraine, where one side develops a capability, and the other side learns to counter it. A common phenomenon in war, this cycle is progressing very rapidly in Ukraine.
“Technological warfare is a cat-and-mouse game,” Myronenko shared of the situation in Ukraine today. “Each new technology grants one side an advantage for a certain period — typically three to four months — until the other side develops a countermeasure.”
For instance, he said, the Shahed drones that Russia used earlier in the war were equipped with a four-channel antenna. Ukraine quickly learned to jam them with electronic warfare, so Moscow adapted. Now, Shaheds fly with a 16-channel antenna.
“This game continues nonstop,” Myronenko said.
The cat-and-mouse cycle of action and reaction, evolution and response, has extended well beyond the Shaheds to other weapons and areas of the battlefield.
Earlier in this war, the small first-person-view (FPV) quadcopter drones were exclusively controlled by radio frequencies. Eventually, both sides learned how to use electronic warfare to jam the drones, rendering them less effective.
Now, Ukraine and Russia are increasingly relying on long spools of fiber-optic cables to connect operators to their FPV drones. This technology is jam-resistant, making the drones far more dangerous on the battlefield.
Meanwhile, in the Black Sea, Ukraine built naval drones to attack Russian ships. When Moscow responded to the growing threat to its warships by increasing air patrols over the waterway, Kyiv gave its drone boats surface-to-air missile launchers to threaten the Russian jets and helicopters. It’s a constant cycle of innovation.
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