The idea is to allow companies to protect themselves against aerial attacks at their own expense and with the help of their own employees,” says Iouri Myronenko, 48, the main initiator of this project. Since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia has been extensively using long-range Shahed drones, of Iranian design but now mass-produced on its territory. Inexpensive but devastating, these drones target residential areas and essential infrastructure, sometimes hundreds of kilometers from the front. The largest attack since 2022 took place in late March, involving, in addition to missiles, nearly 1,000 drones launched in 24 hours.
A system open to private actors
The Ukrainian air defense system, which includes thousands of mobile anti-drone teams, is not sufficient to cover the entire country. The Ministry of Defense has therefore chosen to strengthen the army with private actors, such as energy companies, logistics groups, or security firms. To date, 16 companies have already obtained the necessary authorizations and “several” of them have already started operating, notes Lieutenant Colonel Iouri Myronenko, himself a former drone unit commander.
“We are the first in the world to have set up a system” allowing private actors to “shoot down very difficult aerial targets,” says the official. “The first interceptions took place two weeks ago,” he says. In the Kharkiv region, near the front line, a company shot down several Russian drones using heavy machine guns mounted on turrets.
After the publication of a communication on this subject by the Ministry of Defense, “dozens” of other groups contacted the authorities for information. “We do not hope that private air defense will solve all our problems,” concedes Iouri Myronenko, but “shooting down one, two, or five Shaheds is already a help.”
Coordination and control of equipment
Interested companies must undergo special checks to exclude any affiliation with Russia before being able to purchase weapons and train their employees. They must also integrate coordination with the air force, a key element of this system that manages thousands of anti-aircraft teams in real-time.
Specialized software allows for monitoring “how and where the teams work, who shot down what, what new target appears,” describes Iouri Myronenko. For him, drone interceptors represent the future of this private air defense. Under the pressure of incessant attacks, Ukraine has already developed around fifty interceptor models.
Shooting down 95% of aerial targets
Fierce competition is driving manufacturers to quickly improve efficiency while reducing costs, sometimes to less than $1,000 per unit. In the long run, private groups could even obtain weapons that allow them to shoot down cruise missiles. “We do not limit the means of defense they can purchase” to ensure maximum flexibility in the face of a war that changes “every three or six months,” emphasizes Iouri Myronenko.
