President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi during the official presentation of the new Minister of Defense of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal commissioned to conclude all contracts for interceptor drones within this week.
“Already this week, all available interceptor drones that are effective should be contracted. Part of the agreements have already been concluded, some still had to be worked on. All contracts should be signed this week. Among the priorities should be the appropriate training of the operators of such drones and the support of the entire infrastructure: from production to the use of interceptors.”, — noted Zelensky.
The President emphasized that, in parallel, it is necessary to organize the training of operators and develop the infrastructure for the effective use of such drones.
“Shaheds are shot down by interceptors every night, but such results should be many times more. It is imperative that 100% of the needs of the army aviation, the Air Force, and all units that protect life in our cities and villages be provided.” – emphasized the head of state.
Zelensky also set a clear task – to significantly increase the frequency and range of using drones to strike targets on the territory of Russia.
“Every site in Russia that Moscow uses for the production of weapons must become accessible to our Defense Forces”, the president added.
For his part, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi reported that the interceptor drones are currently 70% effective in the fight against “shaheeds” – this is almost twice as high as that of mobile fire groups. At the same time, he noted that the latter remain an important element of defense, and there are not enough radar systems for the interceptors themselves.
