Yeah. The Ukrainians are masterfully playing the economics of it. Shooting down drones that cost a tenth of an interceptor is ineffective. It's downright ruinous if Ukraine sends hundreds of drones a day. If the sky around Moscow is saturated with interceptions, there will be none left for the front lines, where they actually would make a military difference.

The Iranians have been playing a similar game with Trump. So much so that, to nobody's surprise, the leaders of the Gulf states invited Zelenskyy to offer drone interception tech instead of Hegseth.

[–] Korhaka@sopuli.xyz 14 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Don't they have gun AA systems as well though? Wouldn't they be more effective against drones or are the radars unsuitable for the small targets.

Not sure if the Gepard required modifications or not to target drones, thought I had heard it could do a pretty good job at taking them out if it's at range. Probably not so much if there is uneven terrain for the drones to move through.

[–] Lemmyoutofhere@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Very little range though compared to a missile.

[–] jrs100000@lemmy.world 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Also spraying thousands of large caliber bullets a minute into the air isn't a great idea in a populated area around the capital. They might hit somebody important.

[–] jj4211@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

Of course, based on the video, they aren't exactly doing much better in that regard with the missles..