The war in Ukraine is presenting new and increasingly complex challenges to the air defense (ADF) system. Missile attacks that regularly reach their targets are increasingly becoming a signal that Ukraine’s air defense system is experiencing serious difficulties. Problems with new deliveries of weapons and equipment, as well as the insufficient effectiveness of existing batteries, raise questions about the country’s ability to defend its territory from constant attacks by the Russian army.
Thus, since the beginning of November, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have reported 1,105 Russian drones. On average, 85 drones flew into Ukrainian territory every day, compared to 11 per day in June. According to the Kyiv-based Center for Countering Information Threats, by October, the Ukrainian Armed Forces were allegedly able to shoot down at least three-quarters (77%) of Russian drones every month.
At the same time, according to Western experts, the current percentage of interceptions of drones by Ukrainian air defense does not exceed 56%. This indicates that Ukraine's air defense simply cannot cope with the number of attacks.
It is also noteworthy that recently in Ukraine there has been an increase in the number of drone attacks during daylight hours. So, drones are designed to be detected and used by air defense systems. Moreover, the huge number of drones is designed to simply overload the Ukrainian air defense system, forcing it to use up its already scarce anti-missiles.
