Modern problems require modern solutions. If shooting down cheap Russian Shaheds with air-to-air missiles from jets is not cost-effective, why not replace MiGs and F-16s with An-28 turboprop transport planes and missiles with interceptor drones?
Ukrainian interceptor producer SkyFall posted an Instagram video showing a rare glimpse of how this works. A civilian-designed An-28 plane was modified with three hardpoints on each wing, which could fit SkyFall's cheekily-named P1-SUN interceptor. The crews also tested the American Merops interceptor drones from this platform.
Shaheds are relatively slow-moving targets, letting the plane crews spot them from the sky, then launch the drones, which onboard pilots use to intercept the Russian terror weapons.
“Visual on target, request permission to engage,” a Ukrainian crew member says in the video. A few moments later, permission is granted. The interceptor detaches from the wing and speeds off towards the Russian attack drone.
"I'm on his tail. Coming up on target. Come on, work, you beauty,” the interceptor pilot reports, as the characteristic triangular shape of the Shahed looms in the camera view. The P1-SUN sidles up behind it before both it and the target burst into a midair fireball.
“Yes! Detonation! Ha ha!”
The celebration doesn’t last longer than a second. There are other Shaheds around them to destroy. The crews get to work.
Cheap and effective
Ukraine officially started using light aircraft to fight Shaheds in 2025. These are often converted civilian planes that are much cheaper to operate than dedicated fighter jets, which are often employed to bring down Russian cruise missiles, among many other combat assignments.
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The An-28 is a short-range airliner, whose maiden flight was in 1969. Pressed into Ukrainian military service, the venerable plane has been downing Shaheds with machine guns and other weapons. In February, French journalists from TF1 Info reported that some of the crews are civilian volunteers.
The combination of this plane with Ukraine’s rapidly expanding interceptor use was, perhaps, a no-brainer.
"The drone interceptor doesn't have to waste energy to get off the ground, and from up there, you can see all the Shaheds," said Kostyantyn Kryvolap, a former aviation test engineer at the Antonov Design Bureau, which created the An-28.
Ukraine’s shootdown rate of Russian air attacks has been climbing consistently since December, even as Russia sends unprecedented numbers of drones and missiles, according to Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense.
The MoD posted an interception success rate of 89.9% for March, compared to 85.6% in February, 82.5% in January, and 80.2% in December. That is a 9.7 percentage point increase in three months. Kyiv’s goal is to destroy at least 95% of all incoming weapons.
