Ukraine Deploys New Defense System to Thwart “Drone Swarms”

Ukraine is actively deploying Skynex systems from Germany into its air defence network, new footage shows, as Kiev faces relentless drone and missile fire from Russia.

Mykola Oleshchuk, commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, released footage on Sunday showing Ukrainian pilots firing air-launched missiles, including long-range cruise missiles supplied by the West. The footage also showed several ground systems in action.

Open source intelligence and Ukrainian media have identified the footage as part of a Skynex air defense system.

Data released by the German government shows that Berlin has delivered two Skynex systems to Ukraine, along with ammunition. The first Skynex air defense system was delivered to the Ukrainian armed forces in 2023, according to the system’s manufacturer, Rheinmetall. The German government indicated that the second system arrived in late April.

Skynex is a short-range air defense system. Rheinmetall describes the system as particularly suitable for “very short-range contexts where guided missiles are ineffective.”

Ukraine has long sought air defense systems from its Western allies, not to mention the U.S.-made Patriots, considered the gold standard for air defense as it grapples with heavy Russian airstrikes. Air defense was a key element of recently unveiled aid packages for Ukraine.

Large systems such as the Patriot can intercept missiles described as hypersonic, while Ukraine also operates smaller air defense systems more commonly used to destroy drones, such as man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) or large-caliber guns. The German-supplied Flakpanzer Gepard, a self-propelled anti-aircraft gun mounted on a tank chassis, has been praised for its performance in Ukraine.

The series of systems is designed to provide protection against a wide variety of threats.

Russia has been relentlessly attacking Ukraine with missiles and drones, and Kiev has warned that it lacks anti-aircraft missiles to destroy incoming targets.

“The enemy is attacking us with bombs and missiles around the clock, conducting aerial reconnaissance and attacking us every night with drones,” Oleshchuk said over the weekend.

“Skynex is particularly effective against drone swarms with its Advanced Hit Efficacy and Destruction (AHEAD) munitions,” said Guy McCardle, managing editor of Special Operations Forces Report (SOFREP). Newsweek in January.

The 35mm AHEAD ammunition fired by Skynex is “significantly cheaper than comparable guided missile systems” and cannot be vulnerable to electronic warfare agents once fired, Rheinmetall says.

Although drones generally move slowly, they are difficult to detect, and if a large number of them gather to attack a single point, they can easily defeat air defenses equipped with expensive interceptor missiles.

“Swarming is a very sophisticated method of attacking a specific target,” Uzi Rubin, a senior researcher at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security and the Begin Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, said earlier. Newsweek.

Ukrainian MP Oleshchuk said on Sunday that since February 2022, Kiev’s air force has destroyed thousands of missiles and drones, as well as hundreds of aircraft.

“Ukrainian pilots have completed more than 20,000 combat missions, most of which involved the use of air defense systems,” Oleshchuk said. “They destroy enemy air assets whenever possible, attack the enemy from the air and maintain defenses on the ground.”

Separately, on Sunday, Ukraine officially confirmed the arrival and first use of Western-supplied F-16 fighters. The planes are likely to be used primarily for air defense in the coming weeks.