Sky Sentinel is a new autonomous air threat countermeasure system developed by Ukrainian engineers in response to massive drone and cruise missile attacks. The turret can independently detect and destroy aerial targets, including the Shahed-136, without human intervention.
Sky Sentinel is a new autonomous air threat countermeasure system developed by Ukrainian engineers in response to massive drone and cruise missile attacks. The turret can independently detect and destroy aerial targets, including the Shahed-136, without human intervention.
The development was announced by the official United24 platform, publishing a demonstration video of the system’s testing. Sky Sentinel is positioned as a «Shahed Catcher» — a mobile, fully autonomous turret capable of hitting drones and missiles on their approach to Ukrainian cities.
The turret operates in automatic mode: after connecting to the radar, it performs a full cycle without operator intervention — from target detection to destruction. System:
The system is equipped with a 360° rotating heavy machine gun that can engage airborne targets moving at speeds of up to 800 km/h. During field tests, the turret accurately engaged targets five times smaller than the Shahed. It is capable of disabling both reconnaissance drones and full-fledged cruise missiles.
According to the Ministry of Defense, since February 2022 alone, the Russian Federation has launched over 45,000 kamikaze drones over Ukraine, most of which are Iranian Shahed. These drones are actively used against energy infrastructure, logistics facilities, warehouses, and residential areas. On average, over 100 enemy UAVs cross Ukrainian skies every day.
Traditional air defense — anti-aircraft missiles, fighter jets, mobile anti-aircraft groups — is effective but too expensive to intercept cheap drones. That is why turrets like Sky Sentinel can be a cost-effective link in the defense system.
It is not yet known how many such installations have been manufactured and whether they are undergoing combat testing. However, the developers emphasize that Sky Sentinel is already ready for mass production and can guard Ukrainian cities in automatic mode 24/7.
We previously wrote about how a dev.ua journalist managed to talk to a top manager of one of the cellular companies about whether Russian shaheeds actually use our mobile networks.
