'Cheap air-to-air missile': Ukraine has turned a vintage 55-year-old Russian-designed Antonov An-28 twin-propeller aircraft into a versatile A-10 Warthog-type platform complete with Gatling-class gun, VR headsets to intercept Russian Shahed drones

Date:
Tue, 05 May 2026 20:30:00 +0000

Description:
Ukraine repurposes Antonov An-28 into an anti-drone platform using miniguns and interceptor drones, balancing cost efficiency with operational limitations.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Vintage Antonov An-28 now operates as a mobile anti-drone platform Ukrainian crews report destroying
222 Russian Shahed drones using the onboard minigun Antonov An-28 supports
two drone models, SkyFall P1-Sun and Merops AS-3 Surveyor A 55-year-old turboprop airplane originally designed for short-range cargo and passenger flights has found an entirely new vocation over Ukrainian skies.

The Antonov An-28, a Russian-designed twin-propeller aircraft from the Soviet era, now operates as a mobile anti-drone weapons platform. Ukrainian forces have equipped this vintage airframe with a six-barrel M134 Minigun, underwing interceptor drones , and virtual reality headsets for night targeting.
Article continues below You may like Ukraine becomes the first country to scale long-distance remote-controlled interceptor drones Could Ukrainian drones replace DJI in the US? Skydio just landed a record $52 million drones order from the US military From utility transport to drone hunter The An-28 was never intended for combat; its original mission involved hauling supplies and people from short, unimproved airstrips.

The aircrafts short takeoff and landing capability now serves a different purpose, allowing it to operate from austere forward bases close to the front lines.

Ukrainian pilot Tymur Fatkullin, who has documented many extemporized
aviation initiatives, first published a video of the armed An-28.

His crew relies on air traffic controllers to guide it into areas where Russian Shahed drones are active, then uses infrared cameras and night vision goggles to spot the mostly nocturnal targets. Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed! Contact me
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The aircraft carries an M134 Minigun, a six-barrel Gatling-class weapon capable of shredding slow-moving drones with sustained fire, like the A-10 Thunderbolt II.

Fatkullin reports that the An-28 has already destroyed 222 Russian drones using gun armament alone.

Although the minigun has proven effective, it requires the An-28 to fly
within visual range of the target. What to read next How the CH-47 Chinook could evolve into a drone launcher New $5 laser system could protect US Navy ships from drone swarms Nigerian startup builds AI drone systems to protect Africas vital industries

Russian Shaheds often travel in swarms, and a gun can only engage one drone
at a time, a limitation which pushed Ukrainian crews to experiment with a different method.

Instead of relying solely on bullets, the An-28 now carries small interceptor drones under its wings.

These drones launch from the aircraft and fly toward hostile Shaheds autonomously or under remote piloting.

We have also tested several other interceptor drones during training flights. You could call it a cheap air-to-air missile, said Tymur Fatkullin.

There are two models of these budget drones the SkyFall P1-Sun, which uses a modular 3D-printed airframe and reaches speeds of up to 280 miles per hour, and the Merops AS-3 Surveyor, which carries an explosive warhead for
proximity detonation. Why the old airframe? Launching interceptor drones from a turboprop offers several practical advantages over ground-based systems.

The An-28 brings the small drone closer to the target before release,
reducing response time.

When the launch takes place from altitude, it gives the interceptor
additional range and kinetic energy.

The aircraft also provides loiter time for standing anti-drone patrols, which crews can set up as a protective screen along predictable Russian flight paths.

However, the main advantage of this old airframe is cost. A single Shahed drone costs Russia an estimated $30,000 to $50,000.

According to the U.S. Army, a Merops-made interceptor drone costs around $15,000, with potential reductions to between $3,000 and $5,000 under scaled production.

The minigun, firing conventional ammunition, offers an even cheaper per-kill cost.

This technology appears to address Russian Shahed drones, but its true test will come not in todays kill counts, but in how quickly Russia adapts to this makeshift solution.

If Moscow deploys electronic warfare or faster drones that defeat the An-28's current configuration, the vintage turboprop's utility could vanish almost overnight.

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