Ukraine's drone hunters are evolving. The next generation is getting faster.

• Ukrainian defense companies are working on a new generation of faster interceptor drones.
• The development comes in response to an uptick in Russian jet-powered attack drones.
• Jet-powered drones travel at high speeds and are more difficult to intercept.

KYIV, Ukraine — The makers behind some of Ukraine's most popular interceptor drones are working to make them faster to keep pace with dangerous new Russian weapons powered by jet engines.

Russia routinely uses its propeller-driven Geran-2 drones, domestically developed derivatives of Iranian-designed Shaheds, to attack Ukraine, but it has also developed and is increasingly using faster Geran-3, Geran-4, and Geran-5 variants powered by mini turbojet engines.

Andrii Hrytseniuk, CEO of the Ukrainian innovation platform Brave1, told Business Insider in a recent interview that local defense firms are working on a new class of high-speed interceptors to counter the rise of jet-powered drones.

Wild Hornets, the manufacturer behind Ukraine's well-known "Sting" interceptor drone, is testing a new variant — aptly named the "Sting 2" — that is designed to counter the Geran-4 and Geran-5, a company spokesperson told Business Insider at a secret training site near Kyiv last month.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details, the Wild Hornets spokesperson said that the next-generation Sting interceptor has already been used in combat and will soon be ready for mass production.

The presently available Sting variant has a top speed of 175 mph, significantly faster than the Russian propeller-driven one-way attack drones but not quite on par with their jet-powered counterparts, the slowest of which can cruise at speeds over 200 mph.

The Wild Hornets spokesperson said that highly skilled Sting pilots can still intercept jet-powered drones. In early June, for example, one operator brought down two Geran-4s, but kills are much harder to come by.

Ukraine's military intelligence agency, the GUR, said last month that the Geran-4 can fly up to 310 mph and that Russia had started to use it in attacks "as a countermeasure against the effectiveness" of Ukrainian interceptor drones.

The Geran-4 is faster and more maneuverable than its predecessors, increasing its chances of escape.

Skyfall, a Ukrainian company behind the popular P1-Sun interceptor, is similarly increasing the drone's speed to keep up with jet-powered Gerans as Russia invests more in both drones and launch infrastructure.

A Skyfall representative, who spoke to Business Insider on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details, said the company plans to increase the P1-Sun's speed from roughly 192 mph to more than 250 mph.

The representative said that Skyfall is constantly accepting user feedback and incorporating it into production as needed, along with any planned improvements, before issuing the upgraded drone to the front lines. "That's what helps us to stay on track," they said.

Increased speed alone won't necessarily guarantee an interception. Russia has taken steps to make its attack drones more survivable, including by equipping them with electronic warfare technology to suppress Ukraine's interceptors and upgrading their design for greater mid-flight maneuverability.

Russia is also launching more drones controlled by operators rather than sending them autonomously at predetermined coordinates, allowing humans with situational awareness to evade interception in real time and hunt moving targets.

"Russia has adapted. Once we became successful with interceptors, Russia began adopting maneuvering technology to avoid them," said Hrytseniuk, the Brave1 CEO. "So Ukrainian companies made countermeasures; interceptors can predict their path."

To make this happen, Ukrainian companies are integrating artificial intelligence into their interceptor drones.

Skyfall's next-generation interceptor, called the P1-Sun Long, uses AI to detect drones at roughly half a mile, aiding the operator if they can't see the target, the company representative said.

They added that Skyfall is also developing an autonomous version of the P1-Sun, where the pilot will only need to press a button to start or cancel the mission, allowing them to oversee several interceptors simultaneously. The development is part of a much larger effort across Ukraine's defense industry to create drone swarms.

For Wild Hornets, human involvementremains critical, even as the companysimilarly works to integrate AI into its drones for target detection, identification, and terminal guidance.

"In any case, a human still has to make the decision," the Wild Hornets spokesperson said. It's not just Ukrainian technology that's changing; Russia is actively developing countermeasures as well. "So a human has to keep tracking that and make the necessary adjustments."

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