Sergey "Flash" Beskrestnov, the President of Ukraine's advisor on the development of defense technology, stated on the "United News" tele-marathon that Russia is increasingly mastering the production of a new class of weapons — jet-powered missiles — and that countermeasures are already being prepared in Ukraine. According to him, Russian developments in this area are not limited to the current period: in "Flash's" assessment, Moscow plans to continue building jet-powered missiles over the next year as well. This is reported by RBC-Ukraine.
'Banderol', 'Geran-5' and 'Dan': what these missiles are
In his remarks, "Flash" listed several designations that, in his assessment, refer specifically to jet-powered missiles rather than jet-powered drones. In particular, he mentioned "Banderol" — which he called a "budget Russian jet-powered missile" — as well as "Geran-5", emphasizing that "this is not even a jet-powered UAV." The President's advisor also included the jet-powered "Dan-M" and "Dan-T" in the same list. In his formulation, for the enemy a jet-powered missile represents an evolution of the jet-powered UAV, i.e. the next step in the development of strike systems with a jet engine.
Kyiv's response: jet-powered interceptors
Against this backdrop, "Flash" confirmed that Ukraine intends to develop its own jet-powered interceptor missiles to destroy such targets. "We understand this and will be trying to build jet-powered interceptor missiles so that there is a counter to such missiles," he summed up. This statement is consistent with the concept previously outlined by the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces for intercepting jet-powered "Shaheds" using so-called "smart missiles" and missile platforms capable of accelerating to 700 km/h — in other words, the talk is of intercepting "speed with speed," rather than of classic air-defense systems.
Contradictory data
In the public sphere this week, two seemingly incompatible formulations coexist. On the one hand, headlines in Ukrainian media (including Fakty) carry the claim that "jet-powered Geran-5 missiles have been shot down over Kyiv for the second day running." On the other hand, "Flash" himself had earlier explained that Russian jet-powered "Geran-5" missiles cannot be shot down by interceptor drones. These theses are not identical: the fact of "shootdowns" in operational reports does not mean that the interception is carried out specifically by drones — on the contrary, it is precisely the impossibility of effective interception by drones that, in the words of the President's advisor, justifies the need to create jet-powered interceptor missiles. Thus, the difference between the versions comes down to the method of interception, not to the fact of the attacks and their repelling.
Context: strikes on Kyiv and the hit on the SBU building
"Flash's" statements came against the backdrop of ongoing strikes on Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, which, in his own words, Russia is attacking using jet-powered missiles. Earlier in the same information space, the President's advisor had described which specific drone and from where Russia launched at the SBU building in Kyiv. The totality of these statements indicates that the issue of intercepting jet-powered targets is becoming one of the priorities of Ukrainian defense policy for the coming months and the next year.
