Minister: Ukraine aims to develop air-to-air combat drones - ABC News

KYIV, Ukraine -- Ukraine has bought immoderate 1,400 drones, mostly for reconnaissance, and plans to make combat models that tin onslaught the exploding drones Russia has utilized during its penetration of the country, according to the Ukrainian authorities curate successful complaint of technology.

In a caller interrogation with The Associated Press, Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov described Russia’s warfare successful Ukraine arsenic the archetypal large warfare of the net age. He credited drones and outer net systems similar Elon Musk’s Starlink with having transformed the conflict.

Ukraine has purchased drones similar the Fly Eye, a tiny utilized for intelligence, battlefield surveillance and reconnaissance.

“And the adjacent stage, present that we are much oregon little equipped with reconnaissance drones, is onslaught drones,” Federov said. “These are some exploding drones and drones that alert up to 3 to 10 kilometers and deed targets.”

He predicted “more missions with onslaught drones” successful the future, but would not elaborate. “We are talking determination astir drones, UAVs, UAVs that we are processing successful Ukraine. Well, anyway, it volition beryllium the adjacent measurement successful the improvement of technologies,” helium said.

Russian authorities person alleged respective Ukrainian drone strikes connected its subject bases successful caller weeks, including 1 connected Monday successful which they said Russian forces changeable down a drone approaching the Engels airbase located much than 600 kilometers (over 370 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

Russia's subject said debris killed 3 work members but nary craft were damaged. The basal houses Tu-95 and Tu-160 nuclear-capable strategical bombers that person been progressive successful launching strikes connected Ukraine.

Ukrainian authorities person ne'er formally acknowledged carrying retired specified drone strikes, but they person made cryptic allusions to however Russia mightiness expect retaliation for its warfare successful Ukraine, including wrong Russian territory.

Ukraine is carrying retired probe and improvement connected drones that could combat and down different drones, Federov said. Russia has utilized Iranian-made Shahed drones for its airstrikes successful Ukrainian territory successful caller weeks, successful summation to rocket, cruise rocket and artillery attacks.

“I tin accidental already that the concern regarding drones volition alteration drastically successful February oregon March,” helium said.

Federov sat for an interrogation successful his agleam and modern office. Located wrong a staid ministry building, the country contained a vinyl grounds player, past books stacked connected shelves and a treadmill.

The curate highlighted the value of mobile communications for some civilian and subject purposes during the warfare and said the astir challenging places to support work person been successful the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Odesa and Kyiv regions successful the halfway and eastbound of the country.

He said determination are times erstwhile less than fractional of mobile telephone towers are functioning successful the capital, Kyiv, due to the fact that Russian airstrikes person destroyed oregon damaged the infrastructure that powerfulness them.

Ukraine has immoderate 30,000 mobile-phone towers, and the authorities is present trying to nexus them to generators truthful they tin support moving erstwhile airstrikes harm the powerfulness grid.

The lone alternative, for now, is outer systems similar Starlink, which Ukrainians whitethorn trust connected much if blackouts commencement lasting longer.

“We should recognize that successful this case, the Starlinks and the towers, connected to the generators, volition beryllium the basal net infrastructure,” Federov said.

Many cities and towns are facing powerfulness cuts lasting up to 10 hours. Fedorov said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree that instructs mobile telephone companies to guarantee they tin supply signals without energy for astatine slightest 3 days.

Meanwhile, with enactment from its European Union partners, his ministry is moving to bring 10,000 much Starlink stations to Ukraine, with net work made disposable to the nationalist done hundreds of “Points of Invincibility” that connection lukewarm drinks, heated spaces, energy and structure for radical displaced by warring oregon powerfulness outages.

Roughly 24,000 Starlink stations already are successful cognition successful Ukraine. Musk’s company, SpaceX, began providing them during the aboriginal days of the warfare aft Fedorov tweeted a petition to the billionaire.

“I conscionable stood determination connected my knees, begging them to commencement moving successful Ukraine, and promised that we would marque a satellite record," helium recalled.

Federov compared Space X's donation of the outer terminals to the U.S.-supplied aggregate rocket launchers successful presumption of value for Ukraine's quality to equine a defence to Russia's invasion.

“Thousands of lives were saved,” helium said.

As good arsenic the civilian applications, Starlink has helped front-line reconnaissance drone operators people artillery strikes connected Russian assets and positions. Federov said his squad is present dedicating 70% of its clip to subject technologies. The ministry was created lone 3 years ago.

Providing the service with drones is among its main tasks.

“We request to bash much than what is expected of us, and advancement does not wait,” Federov said, scoffing astatine Russian accomplishment successful the domain of drones. “I don’t judge successful their technological imaginable astatine all.”

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Associated Press writer Jamey Keaten contributed to this report.

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Follow AP’s sum of the warfare successful Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine