KYIV, Ukraine — Russia is attempting to make its deadly one-way attack drones harder to kill, arming some with electronic warfare technology meant to help them survive Ukraine's interceptor drones.
Oleksiy Vyskub, Ukraine's first deputy defense minister, confirmed in a recent interview with Business Insider that Russia has installed electronic warfare systems on the Shahed-style attack drones regularly used to strike Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure.
These modified drones "fly in our country and try to suppress our interceptor drones," Vyskub said, speaking through a translator.
Although a broad term, electronic warfare generally refers to the use of signal jamming and other forms of electronic interference to disrupt or disable a device's communications or navigation systems.
Vyskub said the modified Shaheds, fitted with an electronic warfare frequency suppressor mounted on their rear, were detected during recent attacks against Ukraine. However, he did not characterize the development as a "super innovation" for Russia.
Neither Russia's defense ministry nor its US embassy responded to a request for comment on the defensive tactic.
Samuel Bendett, a Russian drone expert and advisor with the Center for Naval Analyses, a US-based research organization, said Moscow first started putting portable electronic warfare on uncrewed aircraft last year in response to a surge in Ukrainian interceptor drones.
"The result of using this technology is mixed so far, since most such attempts dealt with light fixed-wing [intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance] drones carrying this tech," Bendett told Business Insider, adding that "this was likely done in insufficient numbers to prevent a growing slate of Ukrainian interceptor attacks."
The interceptor drones are armed with small warheads and destroy targets by exploding nearby or colliding with them. Ukrainian operators use these inexpensive drones to defend against the waves of Shaheds that Russia launches nightly. Some units cost as little as $2,000.
Mykhailo Fedorov, the Ukrainian defense minister, told reporters at a recent briefing on the war that the number of Shaheds shot down by interceptor drones has doubled since the start of 2026, despite Russia increasing the number of Shahed launches every month.
Deliveries of interceptor drones have more than doubled during this period as well, Fedorov shared, underscoring their growing popularity as a cheap air defense tool.
Bendett said it's unclear whether adding electronic warfare systems to the Shahed-type drones will be enough to defeat Ukraine's interceptors, some of which use targeting technology to stay locked onto the aircraft they're pursuing.
Russian Shaheds equipped with electronic warfare defenses are the latest effort to make these deadly one-way attack drones harder for Ukraine's air defenses to detect and shoot down.
Last year, Russia began adding rear-facing cameras to its Shaheds so operators could see interceptor drones approaching from behind, and it also armed some of its attack drones with air-to-air missiles to threaten the Ukrainian helicopters used for air defense.
On Monday, Ukraine's GUR military intelligence agency said that Russia had started using a new jet-powered Shahed, known locally as the Geran-4, in response to the effectiveness of Ukrainian interceptor drones. This aircraft is faster and more maneuverable than its predecessors.
Interceptor drones are primarily designed to engage propeller-driven Shaheds that reach speeds of up to 115 mph. But Ukrainian manufacturers have said they are developing faster models to chase down Russia's jet-powered drones. And Fedorov, the defense minister, said Kyiv is building a stockpile of cheap interceptor missiles as well.
Ukrainian and Western officials have repeatedly described the war as a cat-and-mouse-style arms race: one side deploys an innovative tactic or weapon, forcing the other to develop a countermeasure, only for the other to invent a counter to that counter.
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Jake Epstein is a correspondent for Business Insider based in London. He covers global defense issues with a focus on the US military, the NATO alliance, European security, and emerging tech in warfare.Jake has reported from Ukraine, the Middle East, around Europe, and across the United States. He has embedded with a US aircraft carrier during the Red Sea conflict, a NATO surveillance plane on a mission in Eastern Europe, a British aerial refueling tanker over the Baltic region, and a Dutch warship operating far north of the Arctic Circle.Contact Jake at [email protected] or securely via Signal at jepstein.97Featured stories:
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