Russia Is Making Shaheds Faster. Ukraine Is Testing Cheaper Missiles to Kill Them

Ukraine has developed low-cost interceptor missiles designed to shoot down Russian Shahed strike drones, with testing already underway as Kyiv prepares for a new wave of faster drone threats, Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said, according to Militarnyi on May 21.

Fedorov said the goal is to scale production “dozens of times” and build up enough interceptor stocks for the autumn and winter, when Russia is expected to intensify attacks on energy and critical infrastructure.

“We want to scale and make interceptor missiles cheaper in order to prepare for the appearance of jet-powered Shaheds,” Fedorov said.

The new missiles are intended to become another layer of Ukraine’s air defense, working alongside existing interceptor drones and conventional air defense systems to protect critical infrastructure.

According to Fedorov, Ukraine has already found several solutions that are close to readiness and has begun testing them. The current priority is to rapidly expand production capacity and reduce cost so the missiles can be used at scale against mass drone attacks.

The minister also noted that Ukraine has doubled the percentage of Shaheds destroyed by interceptor drones over the past four months, even as Russia has increased the number of Shaheds launched each month by around 35%.

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Over the same period, Ukraine received 2.6 times more interceptor drones, strengthening its growing low-cost air defense network.

To speed up development, the government is providing grants to developers, encouraging companies to expand production, and restarting recruitment for engineering and design teams.

The effort reflects Ukraine’s push to build cheaper, scalable defenses against Russia’s mass drone campaign, especially as Moscow works to introduce faster jet-powered Shahed-type drones that could be harder to intercept with existing systems.

Earlier, Ukraine’s domestically developed STING interceptor drones shot down more than 100 Russian Shahed strike drones during a large-scale Russian air assault.

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