Russia upgrades Geran drones to hunt Ukraine’s mobile air defenses in real time

Ukraine’s air defense war has entered a phase where effectiveness itself is becoming a liability. What began as a highly asymmetric, low-cost method to blunt Russia’s mass drone attacks has now reshaped the priorities of Moscow’s strike planners. As Ukrainian defenses proved capable of neutralizing large numbers of incoming drones without losses, Russia was forced to reconsider not just how to reach targets, but how to remove the defenders themselves. This reflects a broader pattern in the conflict, where tactical success triggers rapid enemy adaptation rather than deterrence. The skies over Ukraine are no longer contested only by missiles and drones aimed at infrastructure, but by systems actively hunting one another. In this environment, the battle is shifting from interception to suppression, with each side racing to impose risk on the other at the lowest possible cost.

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