How aircraft-launched P1-SUN interceptors shoot down Shaheds

Aerotim has released a video showing Shahed drones being shot down by P1-SUN interceptor drones launched from a light An-28 aircraft. The team claims this type of operation has been carried out for the first time globally.

In the footage, the An-28 acts as an airborne platform, delivering P1-SUN interceptors to designated areas, after which the drones are launched from the aircraft to engage aerial targets.

“This method has proven effective in real combat conditions. It can be described as a low-cost air-to-air missile,” an Aerotim representative said.

They added that the team is moving toward technologies that would allow interceptors to operate in zero-visibility conditions, where machine-gun engagement is not possible.

In the future, the system is expected to evolve into a fully unmanned platform that does not require the carrier to approach manoeuvring aerial targets. In effect, it would function as a mobile air defence node that moves together with interceptors to the area of operations.

P1-SUN is an interceptor drone developed by the Ukrainian company SkyFall. On 23 April, Deputy Defence Minister Ganna Hvozdiar said at the European Business Summit in Brussels that these interceptors have already downed 3,000 Shahed drones.