A Russian Gerbera drone was lately filmed sporting cameras on its again, demonstrating how Moscow would possibly hope to thwart Ukraine’s rising use of low-cost interceptor drones towards Shahed waves.A clip of the uncrewed aerial car was revealed on Tuesday by the Ukrainian drone unit Wu Samurai, a formation of the 117th Heavy Mechanized Brigade that focuses on anti-drone warfare.The video seems to have been filmed from an interceptor, which is often a first-person-view uncrewed system designed to chase down greater drones.Footage from the interceptor confirmed the distinct chassis of a Gerbera, a propeller-driven drone designed to imitate the Iranian-origin Shahed loitering munition, flying over fields.Because the interceptor approaches the Gerbera, two optic cameras may be clearly seen connected to the again of the Russian drone. One digicam is aimed on the sky, whereas one other is tilted towards the drone’s rear, indicating that these have been positioned to detect threats from above or behind.Nonetheless, the Wu Samurai Telegram channel wrote that the unit’s interceptor efficiently struck the Gerbera.”Gerbera acquired caught dodging with two cameras on her again — it did not assist,” the unit wrote. It is unclear precisely when and the place the footage was filmed. The 117th has been preventing in Donetsk.The clip of the Gerbera, considered one of Russia’s least expensive platforms that is now generally seen within the warfare, is an additional signal that Russia could also be looking for to increase a drone preservation tactic that Moscow has been attempting on costlier uncrewed techniques.Over the previous few months, Ukrainian troops have more and more reported encounters with Russian reconnaissance drones, such because the Supercam, fitted with sensors or cameras for serving to aerial platforms dodge interceptors.On September 7, distinguished Ukrainian drone blogger Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov posted a video of what he mentioned was a serially produced radio sign detector discovered on a Supercam drone. Beskrestnov mentioned that when the Supercam detects an out of doors radio sign — which flags that one other drone is probably going close by — it is programmed to interact in evasive maneuvers.For a lot of reconnaissance drones, that often means immediately diving to achieve velocity and create distance from an interceptor.
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Rising challenges for interceptorsHowever, recon drones such because the Zala and Supercam are far costlier than the Gerbera, considered one of which prices Russia $10,000 to make, in line with Ukrainian officers’ estimates in 2024. A budget drone is usually deployed as a decoy for the Shahed, and Russia launches it in hundreds-strong waves to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses.In response, Ukraine has bolstered its anti-air forces by creating low-cost FPV drones to chase down and crash into Shaheds and Gerberas.Thought of a distinct segment, novelty idea simply two years in the past, interceptors have been prioritized since late 2024 as Russia stepped up the depth of its Shahed assaults. Kyiv goals to realize a yearly manufacturing capability of 1 million interceptors.The Wu Samurai’s Tuesday clip reveals that Russia has, in return, been equipping even its least expensive techniques with evasion tools, pointing to the dimensions that interceptors are reaching within the warfare.If rolled out extensively on long-range assault drones and decoys, the rear cameras and radio detectors might pose new difficulties for Ukraine’s interceptor pilots. With as we speak’s know-how, drone pilots should already be expert sufficient to search out and chase down Shaheds and Gerberas in a big three-dimensional setting.Moscow’s shifting Gerbera techniques stand to supply implications past Ukraine, because the West additionally assesses the way to struggle low-cost uncrewed techniques. Earlier this month, Poland and NATO mentioned they shot down a number of Russian drones that illegally entered Polish airspace.Whereas Warsaw has disclosed little concerning the platforms and weapons used to destroy the drones, it is extremely seemingly that the alliance deployed costly air-to-air missiles to focus on Gerbera drones.On September 18, Poland signed a cooperation memorandum with Ukraine that features studying how Kyiv conducts low-cost air protection.
