Russia’s Jet-Powered Drones Grow More Dangerous as Ukraine Seeks an Answer

The sound above Ukraine is changing. After becoming accustomed to the moped-like buzz of Shahed drones, Ukrainians are now hearing something different: a quieter aircraft-like hum or a whistle.

Russia is introducing jet-powered drones on a large scale, according to The New York Times. The machines can travel at up to about 600 kilometers per hour, nearly three times faster than earlier models with piston engines. That speed allows them to carry heavier explosives, fly higher and cover greater distances.

Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Colonel Yurii Ihnat said the use of these drones increased fivefold in July. Serhii Beskrestnov, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on military technology, told the newspaper that Ukraine detected 1,500 jet-powered drones in July and 3,000 in August.

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They are actually cheap cruise missiles.

The new weapons are putting additional pressure on Ukraine’s air defenses. Mobile firing groups equipped with machine guns cannot reach the drones, leaving the military to use fighter aircraft and advanced surface-to-air missile systems. That raises the risk of rapidly depleting ammunition stocks.

Austrian military analyst Franz-Stefan Gady described the drones as a qualitative change on the battlefield and said, "They are actually cheap cruise missiles." He also pointed to a constraint on Russia’s approach: jet engines cost more and depend on components that are harder to obtain than piston engines. "The whole logic of this class of weapon is based on mass production, which requires keeping costs low. Jet engines are the main limitation here; components and supply chains simply cannot scale in the same way as piston engines from lawnmowers," Gady told The New York Times. Ukraine is testing cheaper interceptors in response.

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The whole logic of this class of weapon is based on mass production, which requires keeping costs low. Jet engines are the main limitation here; components and supply chains simply cannot scale in the same way as piston engines from lawnmowers.