Ukraine Develops Drone Interceptor as US Procures Older Patriot Missiles
Ukrainian company SkyFall has unveiled a drone interceptor to counter Iranian-made UAVs, while the US is purchasing older-generation Patriot missiles due to supply constraints. Meanwhile, Turkey seeks US engines for its indigenous fighter jet.
Turkey aims to develop its Air Force with the help of the USA and may receive an answer even before the transfer of the F-35. In Washington, they are looking for creative solutions for the munitions economy and are turning to the purchase of old-generation Patriot interceptors. And in Ukraine, they are developing drone interception capabilities with drones. All this in the weekly defense industry column of Globes.
Not just F-35: Turkey wants US aid for its own advanced aircraft
In Israel, there is great concern about the possibility that the USA will sell Turkey fifth-generation F-35 fighter jets, which would damage its regional air superiority. However, in Ankara, they are not satisfied with this and want US aid for the Kaan project, in which Turkey is developing its own fifth-generation fighter jet.
The Turks did manage to bring the aircraft to its maiden flight in February 2024, but realized that they do not have the ability to produce an engine of the required level. Therefore, considering the restrictions that apply to Turkey as long as the Russian S-400 air defense systems are in its possession and do not allow the sale of F-35s, the Erdogan administration wants to purchase high-quality engines from Washington. The CEO of Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAŞ), Mehmet Demiraglu, claims that the Trump administration has already approved the transfer of General Electric F110 engines. According to him, there are already ten engines in Turkey for the Kaan prototypes.
"For the serial production of Kaan, we will buy 80 engines," said Demiraglu. "We have the export license for the engines." A source in the Turkish aerospace industry told the Breaking Defense website that the first batch of those 80 engines is expected to move to Turkey as early as next year. Either way, this is a failure of the Turkish defense industries to produce an available fifth-generation engine, and at least for now, Turkish statements speak of a first engine only in 2032.
Under the influence of Iran: USA purchases outdated Patriot interceptors
The prolonged campaign with Iran and the fire on American bases led the USA to use unprecedented quantities of interceptors — whether in Israel or throughout the Middle East. In Washington, they would be happy if they could purchase advanced-generation Patriot interceptors, the PAC-3, in large quantities, but American companies are limited in supply. Therefore, for the first time in more than 30 years, Raytheon received an American order for PAC-2 interceptors.
Raytheon is the lead contractor for the Patriot system and PAC-2 interceptors, while Lockheed Martin is the lead contractor for the advanced PAC-3. Today, about a quarter of Raytheon's revenue comes from Patriot systems. PAC-2 is indeed an outdated version, but the interceptors themselves are not really old. The USA will receive the GEM-T variant, which has been an upgrade over the years. The relative improvement of the new variant is related to dealing with relatively small threats with a lower radar signature. At the same time, the missile fuze was changed to provide a response to extremely fast missiles. To all this, the GEM+ version was added, which offers even better accuracy, capabilities, and reliability.
Ukraine intercepts drones with drones
Ukraine is dealing with Russia in a prolonged war, and unprecedented in terms of the scope of operating unmanned means. The Ukrainian company SkyFall revealed a drone interceptor designed for the Shahed threat, by virtue of being faster than them. Therefore, the development may be relevant to many arenas including the Middle East, since the developer of the Shaheds that provided the knowledge to Russia is Iran.
The interceptor, called P1-SUN JetKiller, is the result of only three months of work, which stemmed from requirements raised by the Ukrainian security forces in the face of the Russian threat. The JetKiller, which is a new version of existing versions, has already been tested on dozens of targets on the battlefield and has been successful. "What we see is the Russians using regular Shaheds as a substitute for long-range artillery that was launched deep into Ukraine," a SkyFall representative told the Breaking Defense website. "Therefore, a dedicated response to the Shaheds was needed." The improvement that the Ukrainian company managed to implement in terms of speed is impressive: from about 310 km/h to about 370 km/h. Shaheds can indeed accelerate up to about 400 km/h, but are not able to remain at a uniform speed throughout the flight. Therefore, JetKiller can shoot them down. SkyFall will begin serial production in August, in which they are expected to produce about 50,000 units per month.
