Former head of the CIA: Ukraine has already shot down more than 50% of suicide bombers
To combat Iranian kamikaze drones that hit critical infrastructure, Kyiv vitally needs a defense line of modern technologies, which Ukraine does not yet have
An American general, former commander of the Multinational Forces in Iraq, former head of the CIA, David Petraeus, stated this at the Kyiv Security Forum, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“The United States and the West must strengthen Ukraine’s air defense. Drones are indeed a very big problem because there is no necessary defense line against them.
Sometimes you need to combine several possibilities. This could be layered defense, it could be electronic warfare, it could be shooting down drones. In other cases, you can use some powerful waves. But all these technologies are not yet present on the battlefield.
There are many options for how to counter drone attacks. We faced this problem in Syria when we fought against the Islamic State, and we tried to fight them off. Because there are so-called smart drones that are loaded with explosives.
We are trying to strengthen Ukraine's defensive capabilities. We see how successful Ukraine is already in shooting down these drones, more than 50% of what is launched into the country's airspace. This is a very good ratio. But even those that reach are also deadly, as we have seen. Therefore, we continue to work in this direction,” Petraeus said.
In turn, former Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk asked not to forget that, in addition to air defense and missile defense systems, Kyiv also needs NATO aviation.
“Ukraine needs air and missile defense systems. This, of course, combines with the fact that Ukraine desperately needs fighter jets. I am sure that in the future our partners will have to make a decision regarding the supply of NATO-style fighters to Ukraine, such as the F-16.
Because Ukrainian troops are now fully compatible with NATO standards. We need to switch from completely outdated Soviet-style weapons to new modern equipment that helps us on the battlefield,” Yatsenyuk said.
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