Ukrainian air force data suggested that about 15 per cent of drones had penetrated its defences between April and June — rising from just 5 per cent previously.
But a group of Chinese aerospace engineers and defence researchers have now proposed a radical technological enhancement for combat drones that may dramatically increase their ability to survive to nearly 90 per cent.
At the heart of the proposal was an innovative concept: fitting compact, side-mounted rocket boosters to small or medium-sized drones so they can perform instantaneous, high-G manoeuvres in the final seconds before a missile impact.
According to the researchers, this “terminal evasion” system allowed drones to perform abrupt, unpredictable course changes that even the most sophisticated missiles could not track or follow.
In extensive digital simulations detailed in a paper published in the Chinese defence journal Acta Armamentarii last month, the system saw a huge improvement in survival rates, passing 87 per cent.
