Ukraine Rocket Drones Hunt Russian Mobile Anti-Drone Teams

BusinessAerospace & DefenseUkraine Rocket Drones Hunt Russian Mobile Anti-Drone TeamsByDavid Hambling,Senior Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I'm a South London-based technology journalist, consultant and authorFollow AuthorMay 14, 2026, 01:03pm EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.Fire Point Fp-1 firing a rocket at Russian forces during an attackRussian TelegramA video posted May 12th by Russian forces shows a Ukrainian Fire Point FP-1 long range strike drone firing a rocket at a mobile anti-drone group. This is the first attack of this type, and is both a logical evolution of the attack drone and a significant ratcheting up of the air war. The FP-1 is one of the most common types, and the rocket used has a very long history. Putting the two together could increase the number of drones getting through, as well as seriously degrading Russian air defense. Rise Of The Mobile Fire Group Long range strike drones, like the Russian Shahed and the Ukrainian Fire Point FP-1, have the same sort of performance as aircraft from WW1. Shooting them down with surface-to-air missiles is impractical as there as far too many and the supply of million-dollar missiles gets exhausted quickly against $50,000 drones. Ukrainian mobile fire group of the 23rd Separate Mechanized Brigade work on pickup truck with the M2 Browning machine gun.Global Images Ukraine via Getty ImagesUkraine was the first to deploy mobile fire groups, teams armed with automatic cannon or anti-aircraft machine guns. These move rapidly to sites under threat of drone attack and provide effective short-range defence. The drones, which tend to fly in a straight line at low altitude and no more than 120 mph, can be shot down even with the most basic weapons, including ancient WW1 Maxim Guns.MORE FOR YOURussia has copied Ukraine, and now many Russian sites are defended by squads o...