Ukraine's early-July trials of intercept drones involving multiple manufacturers
failed to go as planned, two people familiar with the exercise said. Many
intercept drones were difficult to control at speeds sometimes above 400 km/h
and several crashed into nearby fields and woods. The exercise underscores
Ukraine's winter challenge: insufficient Western air-defence systems to counter
Russian ballistic missiles and no clear solution for Moscow's faster, more
powerful drones. Ukrainian military data seen by Reuters showed Russia's use of
jet-powered attack drones rose roughly sixfold over the three months this
summer.
