Fighting drones with drones: Ukraine’s playbook for modern air defence

After four years of relentless war, Ukraine has learned a thing or two about defending its homeland, often achieving interception rates approaching 90 percent against Iranian-designed Shahed-type drones. Today, Kyiv is offering to share that hard-earned battlefield expertise with Gulf states seeking ways to repel these inexpensive, but remarkably reliable attack drones.

Despite their modest price tag, typically $20,000 to $50,000 each, these unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), often dubbed the “poor man’s cruise missile,” have proven to be a cheap and effective way to cause panic while wreaking havoc on civilian infrastructure. Iran has deployed its signature Shahed drones across the region to target US military bases and embassies, oil and energy infrastructure, airports, and even global data centres.

Psychological toll

These one-way attack drones, recognisable by their low, buzzing hum, impose a heavy psychological toll. Civilians know that the sound may signal an incoming strike. When the buzzing fades in the distance, there may be a brief moment of relief; but the unease lingers, knowing the threat has not disappeared. In Ukraine - and increasingly elsewhere, this cycle of fear, anticipation, and uncertainty has become a grim part of daily life.

Yet despite their simplicity, defending against them is anything but cheap.

Regionally stationed US Patriot air-defence systems, long considered the gold standard for missile defence, have played a key role in protecting the region since the outbreak of hostilities on February 28. The economic reality, however, is the price tag. Each Patriot interceptor missile costs between $3.5 million and $4 million per shot; not exactly bang for the buck. Yet Patriot missiles were not built to counter drones. Their multimillion-dollar price tag reflects their role in intercepting high-value threats such as ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and enemy aircraft, including fighter jets and bombers.

The appeal of these inexpensive drones was not lost on Moscow. Early in the war, Russia began importing Shahed drones from Iran before replicating them domestically, drawn by their scalability; an advantage in a conflict that shows no sign of ending.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said that more than 57,000 Shahed-type drones have been launched against Ukraine since 2022. Facing the high cost of defending against these attacks, Ukraine got creative. As the old saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention.

Interceptor drones

In 2023, Ukrainian engineers, startups, and volunteer groups began developing high-speed interceptor drones designed to destroy incoming drones far more cheaply than traditional surface-to-air missiles. A year later, the government launched the Army of Drones initiative, channeling funding and battlefield testing toward drone innovation.

The results are already reshaping the battlefield. Ukrainian interceptor drones use “hit-to-kill” technology, flying directly into incoming drones to disable them mid-air. Ukraine has set a goal of producing up to 1,000 interceptor drones per day, offering a low-cost answer to modern autonomous warfare: fight drones with drones.

Asymmetric warfare

Even NATO is taking note. Adm. Pierre Vandier, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, has described interceptor drones as one of the most promising solutions for this form of asymmetric warfare.

Alongside interceptor drones, Ukraine has also gone back to basics. Mobile fire teams - machine guns mounted on pickup trucks, race to intercept incoming drones and shoot them from the sky. These fundamental tactics show how simple, low-cost methods can still counter technologically sophisticated threats.

Ukraine is now offering to share this expertise abroad. Zelensky has said that, at the request of several countries, Kyiv is prepared to send equipment and military experts to help partners counter similar threats. The offer, however, comes with a caveat: any assistance must not come at the expense of Ukraine’s own defences. Zelensky has emphasised that expanding security cooperation abroad should also help strengthen its diplomatic hand in bringing the war at home to an end – particularly by engaging Russia’s partners and the United States under Donald Trump.

Foreign arms sales

Ukraine’s defence industry, now valued at around $50 billion, has the capacity to produce far more weapons than the government can afford to procure. Allowing foreign arms sales could help bridge that gap, providing revenue for Kyiv as it continues to invest in critical systems such as US-made Patriot missile defences.

But Ukraine is not the only country learning lessons from this new era of drone warfare.

In July 2025, the Pentagon introduced a new system designed for the same battlefield logic: the Low-cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System, or LUCAS. Developed by the Arizona-based company SpektreWorks, the drone has a 10-foot body, an 8-foot wingspan, and can carry up to 40 pounds of explosives. With a price tag of about $35,000 per unit, it reflects a dramatic shift in US defense procurement toward cheaper, scalable systems.

Produced and deployed in months

Unlike traditional US military platforms, often developed over many years with long research and procurement cycles, systems like LUCAS can be produced and deployed within months. The drone also uses an open-architecture design, allowing operators to easily swap payloads and communications systems depending on the mission.

More surprising is the source of its inspiration. According to the manufacturer, LUCAS was reverse-engineered to emulate real threats, drawing in part from the design of Iran’s Shahed-136 drone.

Washington is now moving to accelerate this transition. In June 2025, President Donald Trump signed the executive order “Unleashing American Drone Dominance,” aimed at accelerating the development, commercialisation, and export of US-made drones while strengthening the country’s domestic drone manufacturing base.

At the same time, the Pentagon is expanding efforts to field larger numbers of small, lethal drones. Backed by roughly $1.1 billion in funding, the Defence Department’s Drone Dominance Programme aims to procure large quantities of low-cost systems over the next two years, strengthening the defence industrial base while ensuring the US military maintains a steady supply of scalable, expendable weapons.

The message is clear: the economics of warfare are changing.

The future of war is increasingly defined not by the most advanced weapons on the battlefield, but by which side can produce reliable systems at scale without breaking the bank. In the age of autonomous conflict, success will belong not just to the most technologically advanced militaries, but to those that master the economics of asymmetric air defence.

Gina Bou Serhal is Director of Trends Belgium Virtual Office & Senior Researcher – Trends Research & Advisory