Ukraine could theoretically increase the number of attack drones it launches to around 2,000 a day, although reaching that scale would depend directly on available funding, candidate of technical sciences and unmanned systems expert Sergei Tovkach told Tsargrad.

The assessment followed Russian Defense Ministry figures for August 18, when Russian air defenses intercepted 1,671 fixed-wing drones over the course of 24 hours. According to Tovkach, increasing the number of launches is technically possible, but every large-scale drone raid requires substantial spending.

He also pointed to the cost of countering such attacks. Using Pantsir air-defense systems against relatively inexpensive drones is costly, particularly when hundreds or even thousands of targets are involved.

Tovkach argued that cheaper interceptor drones could be used more widely against UAVs. In Russia, however, the development of this approach is being held back by restrictions governing the handling of explosives.

Machine guns are effective only under certain conditions, he added. Once a drone climbs above 2–2.5 kilometers or accelerates beyond 300–400 kilometers per hour, the capabilities of mobile teams drop sharply.

As possible solutions, Tovkach named AI-controlled automatic turrets or the use of pre-calculated data showing where and when a drone is expected to pass.