KYIV: Ukrainian soldiers frowned as they pored over a small device plugged into a computer -- a drone interceptor captured from the Russian side.
The green device with a dome-shaped nose and 30-centimetre wingspan epitomises the technological arms race playing out between Kyiv and Moscow as their troops battle on the sprawling front line.
Deployed in their hundreds by both sides every day, drones have become the chief technology of the war, scouting out enemy positions and packed with explosives to crash down into soldiers, vehicles and equipment.
They have transformed the front line into a 15-kilometre (9-mile) deep kill-zone and overhauled the very strategy of modern warfare.
Ukraine first deployed drone interceptors in spring 2024, having judged them effective against the thousands of Russian Geran-2 attack drones that bombard Ukrainian cities and infrastructure every month.
The specimen showed that Moscow has now caught up.
“They copied our model,” said Konstantin, the 27-year-old deputy commander of an anti-aircraft unit in Ukraine’s 3rd Army Corps.
But Russia printed theirs from a single block of material, meaning it is “faster and cheaper to produce”.
The 3D-printed interceptors, which race towards larger drones to take them out mid-air, have been a turning point in both the technology and economics of air defence.
US Patriot missiles, which Ukraine has and wants more of, cost about $3 million a shot.
Konstantin held up a Ukrainian drone interceptor that he said cost just $2,000 to make.
Such a price is more viable when facing hundreds of targets a day, and Ukraine’s defence ministry has ordered their mass production.
But such is the pace of change that there are concerns about whether Ukraine’s models are up to date.
Russian attack drones have recently shown signs of being able to evade interceptors by using AI-driven sensors.
“We need to adapt every month, sometimes even faster,” Konstantin said.
Published in Dawn, November 20th, 2025
