Russia first outran Ukraine's cheap drone shield. Now it is blinding the operators, pushing the defense toward onboard guidance and digital links that erode the interceptor's defining cost advantage.
Russia flew 76 jet-powered Gerans at Ukraine in daylight on Aug. 18. Turbojet drones now reach two-thirds of some waves and roll off Alabuga at about 3,000 a month, faster than the $2,000 interceptors that beat the Shahed. Kyiv's jet-powered answer is still in combat testing.
MOBIDIK is a modular Ukrainian unmanned surface vessel family from Avarid, unveiled in June 2026 in six combat variants spanning maritime air defense, medium- and strategic-range strike, missile-and-gun engagement and a 300 kg assault configuration.
Codification turns a battlefield-proven interceptor link into procurement-ready kit and lets crews fly the kill from hundreds of kilometers behind the line.
Russia has launched roughly 1,400 jet-powered Geran drones at Ukraine this year, fast enough to slip past the cheap interceptors Kyiv built its air defense around.
Drone-on-drone interceptors now down most of Russia's Shaheds for about $2,500 each, cheap enough that the US, NATO, and Gulf states want to import the capability. Russia is scaling a 500 km/h jet drone built to beat them.
Ukrainian interceptor drones now down about half of Russia's Shaheds, so Moscow is scaling a faster jet-powered Geran-4 built to outrun them.