The good news of the week: Ukrainian long-range drones hit a target almost 3,000 km away. The bad news: new Starshield restrictions are again causing communication problems for Ukrainian helicopter crews hunting Shaheds and for jet interceptors shooting down jet-powered Shaheds.
This week’s brief features over 20 updates on drone warfare in Ukraine and Russia.
Check out my most recent long-form reports:
Geran-5 K5-K and Russia’s Bet on Susanin Jamming-Resistant Navigation;
Ukrainian EW System Lima Makes Russian Missiles Break Apart in the Air.
Aerial Drones
In 2026, Ukraine allocated around 30 billion euros to procure 9 million drones.
Starshield speed restrictions have once again been extended to all Ukrainian-controlled territory and to areas along the front line. The new settings are affecting the work of Ukrainian military personnel, including those intercepting Russian drones. Reportedly, after three days of these restrictions, 100% of missions using this service have failed. There has been no clarification from SpaceX or the Pentagon.
Russian Shahed-type strike drones can now approach their targets almost silently by shutting off the main jet engine during the final phase of flight.
Recently, there have been attempts to approach targets at extremely low altitudes in areas with no obstacles in the Shahed's path. This is done to avoid detection by Ukrainian radars.
Russia is beginning to use jet-powered drones for front-line and mid-range strikes, and will continue to develop this capability. In particular, the BM-35 Italmas drone has been further developed into the jet-powered BM-70.