A record 33,000+ enemy UAVs of various types were destroyed by interceptor drones in March — twice as many as the previous month
Points of attention
- Ukrainian interceptor drones set a new record by destroying over 33,000 Russian UAVs in March, twice as many as the previous month.
- Interceptor drones have become a crucial innovation in Ukrainian air defense, significantly enhancing protection against enemy attacks.
This is a record: Ukraine shot down 33,000 Russian drones in March with interceptor drones
This was announced by the Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Mykhailo Fedorov.
Met with manufacturers of interceptor drones to get feedback from the market and determine the next steps to protect the sky. Interceptor drones are a Ukrainian innovation that has already become a key part of our air defense. In March alone, interceptors shot down over 33,000 enemy UAVs of various types, including Shaheds, Gerbers, Molniyas, Zalas, Orlans, and others. This is twice as many as last month.
Mikhail Fedorov
Minister of Defense of Ukraine
The key challenge is jet fighters. The enemy is scaling up their use, speed is increasing, and interception is becoming more difficult. Ukraine's task is to find a technological solution. Together with manufacturers, we analyzed the products and their readiness, identified bottlenecks, and synchronized actions for rapid scaling.
Recently, Brave1 supported 12 technologies within the framework of the joint EU4UA Defence Tech grant program with the EU — companies will receive up to 150 thousand euros for the development of high-speed interceptors (450+ km/h) and modern systems to counter air targets.
Separately, at the President's request, we discussed systemic issues: contracting for 2026, pilot training, testing ranges, shortage of ground stations, exports, updating the criteria for assessing effectiveness in the Drone Army. Bonus. We are preparing solutions for each problem.
To create and develop the interceptor market, the Ministry of Defense team took a number of systematic steps:
launched a unique model of rewarding companies for intercepting shaheeds. It was within the framework of this experiment that a shaheed was first shot down by an interceptor drone;
Since 2024, Brave1 has issued over 40 grants to manufacturers; today, there are about 100 manufacturers of interceptor drones in the cluster;
launched Brave1 Dataroom — a platform for training and validating artificial intelligence models. Currently, more than 30 companies are testing, validating, and training 50+ AI models to detect and intercept air targets at different times of day and in different weather conditions.
During the meeting, he set two key tasks for manufacturers:
Develop and scale jet interceptor drone technologies to counter jet fighters.
Develop alternative guidance systems for operation in difficult meteorological conditions.
The state, under transparent market conditions, is ready to quickly purchase new technologies from manufacturers who will effectively fulfill these tasks and protect the Ukrainian sky.
