Inside this old skydiving plane, Ukrainian volunteers are hunting Russian drones. Russia is sending thousands of one-way attack drones to Ukraine every month. Many are shot down, but the country’s air defenses cannot stop them all. Here, on the side of the fuselage, there is an American-made machine gun that can fire up to 3,000 rounds per minute, or 50 rounds per second. And we are pulling out the drones one by one. It takes about $500 worth of ammo to kill a drone. That’s a bargain considering the Iranian-designed Shahed drones are mass-produced in the tens of thousands each and the surface-to-air missiles to counter them can cost millions of dollars. It is a cost-effective way to combat the new threats of modern warfare. “And I came right out here. There’s someone sitting here.” “huh.” “And that’s where the fragment came from.” Valerey Slipkan lived at this remote airfield for nine months waiting for his mission. Having lost his son early in the invasion, he moved to a trailer on the landing pad and began converting the old skydiving plane for war use. Ukraine will allow and even encourage drone warfare by civilians exempt from military service from mid-2025. Valerey is the only member of the crew with combat experience. They are all volunteers, but they take orders from the Ukrainian air defense coordinator. As they waited long hours for their mission in a hideout near the airfield, their bond as a team grew stronger. Drones are not only Ukraine’s deadliest weapon, they are redefining modern warfare. This year, Iran responded to attacks by Israel and the United States by deploying drones across the Middle East. The glitzy cities of the Gulf, once considered safe havens, are suddenly waking up to the threat of cheap but effective drones. Now countries are turning to Ukraine for expertise. From interceptors to armed helicopter fleets, our anti-drone arsenal, built to suit your needs, is one of the most effective in the world. “So this shows all the drones you’ve shot down?” “Yes, there’s actually a comma there too, just so you know how much work was done per flight. Valerey’s co-pilot is a world aerobatic champion who once earned millions of dollars performing seemingly impossible stunts. Timur now flies a Soviet-era AN-28, which was used as a civilian skydiving plane before the Russian invasion. “Here’s the door gunner.” Their drone kill count is still very small compared to the tens of thousands launched by Russia. But Timur He sees the experimental device as a blueprint for Ukraine to scale up, and the father of five, who is also exempt from military service, said it was important to shoot these things down in uninhabited areas. Sometimes you may need to accompany them for 5-7 minutes. If you overfly a populated area, you can be shot down.” “If you had to point a weapon at a human being, would you do this?” “Well, I definitely prefer killing machines.” It’s 1 am. Your team has been notified. Drones have been launched across Ukraine. They run to the runway and prepare the plane for takeoff. You are then told to wait. “They can then be ordered to take off and perform their mission, or they can be placed on standby for orders.” So some nights can be like this. Anything visible on the radar can be lost. Or I was constantly told to back off. They have to do this. We’re on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. “I am constantly reminding myself that this is a good thing. We are not flying, which means there will be no large-scale attacks. “It’s hard, but it’s part of the job.”
