Russia's attack drones fly higher and faster. The Ukrainian Air Force defender said the old machine guns were not enough to kill them.

• Russian drone attacks have become more complex and difficult to defend.

• The head of the Ukrainian team leader in the mobile air defense department said the drone flies faster.

• He said his unit also needs missiles fired on his shoulder, in addition to the machine guns used.

The team leader of Ukraine's mobile air defense department told Business Insider that Russian drone attacks are becoming more and more complex and enemy threats are becoming increasingly difficult to kill. He said higher weapons were needed to defeat them.

Oleksiy, deputy commander of the air defense division of the Ukrainian Territory Defense Force, said Russia's drone tactics have changed over the past few months. Now it is operating the drone at higher altitudes and using modified drones that can fly faster. This presents challenges for air defenders, especially those who only have machine guns installed in trucks.

At the heart of the Russian drone attack is Shahed-136, a Iranian-designed weapon that Moscow is now producing at home. Historically, these one-way attack drones can fly at nearly 90 pounds of explosive warheads at speeds of more than 115 mph.

Although Shaheds are slower and deadly than cruise or ballistic missiles, they are much cheaper, allowing Russia to launch them in large-scale attacks. For example, Moscow sent 273 of them to Ukraine last weekend, one of the largest drone attacks since Russia launched a full-scale invasion three years ago.

Oleksiy's unit, which protects civilians and critical infrastructure in the outskirts of Kiev, said Russia still operates the traditional Shah people. However, Moscow is now using a modified version with the engine, allowing it to travel at speeds above 180 mph. It also increases the explosive payload of new and old drones more than twice the original.

Russia is also using bait drones. These have no warheads, but are designed to drain Ukrainian air defenses because they look convincing and look as deadly as real things. When they are not armed, these drones can perform long-distance reconnaissance missions.

Russia has fired its shaheds at low altitudes in the past to avoid radar detection. However, it is now flying above altitudes of over 8,000 feet, beyond the range of the machine guns that mobile devices are using. BI previously observed Oleksiy's unit paddock, browning the .50-caliber M2 on the truck's bed.

Oleksiy said this updated strategy makes Shaheds inaccessible to mobile firefighters like him – all they can do is observe them and report. These wandering ammunition can then gather in a specific area and hit the target at the same time. He said that while the Ukrainians could still knock them down, the number of killings “started to decrease.”

Russia's Ministry of Defense and its U.S. Embassy did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the tactical changes described by the BI.

In a February intelligence update, the British Ministry of Defense wrote that Russia could launch at least 2,000 drones per month. Keefe said it attacked nearly 300 Ukraine drones on Saturday night alone.

“To overcome this elevation barrier and engaging with drones stably, mobile groups need to use other weapons,” Oleksiy said.

Manpads stand for portable air defense systems. In Ukraine, common examples are the US-made FIM-92 Stinger or the Soviet era 9K38 IGLA. These are often used to shoot down threats such as high-altitude aircraft such as helicopters and even cruise missiles.

“At present, there is a lack of cheap handheld cell phone systems to shoot down drones,” Oleksiy explained. “The military is ready to make a quick move in Operation Manpads and use this sabotage method when machine guns are not available.”

He said joint weapons methods to destroy drones, such as using portable missile launchers at the same time as machine guns, would enhance Ukraine's defense capabilities.

“If our units also have manual manuals, the effectiveness of destroying air targets will be tripled,” he said.

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