Interceptor drones against Russian reconnaissance UAVs: drone-on-drone air combat is a reality

A post that recently went viral in Russian Telegram forums describes Russian losses of reconnaissance drones in the war in Ukraine as “massive”. Almost simultaneously, the 38th Separate Marine Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (38th ObrMP) released a video showing its interceptor drones successfully intercepting nine reconnaissance drones of the Orlan-30, Zala-421-16 and Supercam S350 types.

According to Russian accounts, two approaches can be distinguished among the Ukrainian air defence drones. In one, the interceptor drone rams the reconnaissance drone directly. In the other, a warhead is detonated on impact or in the immediate vicinity.

Some of the “last frames” from Russian reconnaissance drones show an FPV drone with a warhead that apparently comes from the munition component manufacturer Steel Hornets. Since the secret is now out, Steel Hornets recently announced that it would soon officially add the product to its online catalogue.

It is also documented that altitude offers the reconnaissance drones no protection. According to the Russian source, they are attacked by FPV drones at all altitudes.

The published videos only ever show the final moment of interception. Given the number of cases, however, it seems clear that the missions are carried out systematically.

How the interceptor drones work

First, a target is detected and identified. Up to an altitude of a few hundred metres, this is still quite possible with the naked eye. At greater altitudes – the types in question reach up to 5,000 metres – this is no longer possible. Alternatively, the target can be detected by radar. If the drone transmits its reconnaissance images by radio in real time, it can also be located by direction finding. On the waterfall displays of electronic reconnaissance, the individual drone types are easy to tell apart by their signal patterns.

The next step is to track the target, determine its course, and alert an interception team and move it into position.

Available on-screen data from first-person view (FPV) drones shows that an FPV drone needs roughly three to four minutes for an interception flight against a target at an altitude of 1,100 metres.

According to Ukrainian reports, Russia has suspended its reconnaissance flights in the Sumy region following the recent successful interceptions. The Ukrainian side says that Russia, too, does not have endless resources of winged scouts. In addition, Russian priorities are likely to have shifted inevitably after the Ukrainian advance in Kursk Oblast.

+18⚡????????????????M142 HIMARS strike on a Russian Supercam UAV in the east
A few seconds before the missile hit, Russian air defense made an unsuccessful attempt to shoot down our reconnaissance drone pic.twitter.com/s4QWc9LfWh

The high priority Ukraine attaches to combating Russian reconnaissance capabilities was also demonstrated recently by two published reports on HIMARS strikes against Russian Supercam operators in Luhansk Oblast. Although there are many targets along the very long front and the focus is currently on the Kursk operation, the scarce, high-value precision rocket artillery was used for this.

As Russian videos from the ground show, none of the men in the two two-man teams survived.