Ukraine Claims Its Newest Drone Is Faster Than Many Hypercars

The ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia has shown the potential of drone warfare and its effectiveness. Interceptor drones, in particular, have become a key combat tool, even being able to shoot down enemy aerial vehicles carrying missiles. Now the country’s defense wing is making them as fast as a hypercar. Mykhailo Federov, Ukraine’s first deputy prime minister, shared details on a new iteration of the interceptor drone that can reach a top speed of 400 kilometers per hour (or 248.5 mph).

At the heart of this next-generation drone are motors supplied by Motor-G, a company that is part of Brave1, the Ukrainian government’s collaboration platform in the defense technology industry. So far, the technical details of the underlying engine are secret, but the speed of the drone remains quite impressive. For comparison, it is faster than hypercars such as the iconic McLaren F1, 2026 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 (233 mph), Ferrari SF90 Stradale (211 mph), 2021 Pagani Huayra R (221 mph) and Lamborghini Aventador SVJ (221 mph), Ferrari La Ferrari (218 mph), and Pininfarina Battista (222 mph), among others.

The technical achievement is remarkable, especially for a country that is not among the world’s leading destinations for defense technological innovations. However, Ukraine’s next-generation interceptor drone is still not the fastest on the market. The current speed record is held by an Australian drone enthusiast named Benjamin Biggs, whose DIY drone cruised at a maximum downwind speed of 407 mph. It should be noted that Biggs’ kit was a DIY drone designed only for maximum speed, while Ukrainian interceptor drones are designed differently to neutralize aerial weapons. But why faster drones, instead of strengthening their attack potential? Well, there are a handful of general tactical advantages.

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This could change the trend

Fast drones speed up response times to enemy attacks and reduce the risk of casualties. The new generation Ukrainian interceptor drone, with its increased speed, could prove decisively effective against more powerful air weapons. According to an ABC News report, the success rate of Ukraine’s interceptor drones has plummeted in the face of the barrage of Russian drones and missiles. Citing data shared by the country’s Air Force, the report notes that as of October, Ukraine managed to neutralize only 4,242 of 5,312 drones, the lowest figure by 2025.

Defense analysts note that “the dramatically increasing number of drones” in the enemy arsenal is a major reason for declining interception rates. The report further adds that in the face of intensifying Russian drone and missile attacks, it is obviously too costly for Ukraine to deploy missiles to thwart these attacks. A fast drone could prove to be a decisive advantage. According to a Bloomberg report, Ukrainian drones “can immobilize or even destroy a tank or other large machine worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, sometimes millions.”

To stave off their threat, Russia has reportedly begun prioritizing speed over armor or offensive chops, even resorting to sending troops on motorcycles and electric scooters. Faced with such fast groups, an aerial vehicle that outruns them could prove a winning strategy for Ukrainian drone manufacturers. The Associated Press separately reports that Russian suicide drones “are now flying faster and at higher altitudes,” further raising the stakes for Ukraine to deploy faster drones on the battlefield against evolving attack vectors. A drone that flies at around 248 mph will also be a powerful countermeasure to the Russian Shahed-238 and German Geran-3 drones, which travel at 230 mph, on the aerial battlefield.

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Read the original article on SlashGear.