Ukrainian F-16s Shoot Down Jet Drones – But Is It Enough?

President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine has been using US-made F-16 fighters to shoot down Russia’s jet-powered drones.Speaking to a television channel during his recent visit to Canada, Zelensky said Ukraine has “sometimes” resorted to Western air-to-air missiles, such as the US-made AIM-9 and AIM-120, to shoot down newer, faster jet-powered drones.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.“We use the corresponding missiles on F-16s, shooting down jet drones,” Zelensky said, as reported by state media Ukrinform.“It is expensive, but sometimes, when nothing can be done to shoot down a particular jet drone, human life is more important and more expensive, so sometimes F-16s were used against such drones,” he added.Zelensky’s comments came as Canada announced a new $3 billion package for Kyiv, which includes an unspecified number of AIM-9s and AIM-120s.Recent comments from Yuriy Ihnat, the air force’s spokesperson, suggest that Ukrainian F-16s have at times resorted to onboard 20mm cannons to down jet-powered drones, which he said poses major risks to the aircraft itself. Pilots would be closer to the drones based on their size at open-fire ranges compared to enemy fighters, bombers, or other crewed aircraft; this makes debris from the drones a follow-on hazard to the shooter’s aircraft.Jet-powered drones, which blur the line between drones and missiles, have been increasingly used by Russia against Ukraine in recent attacks, posing challenges for Ukrainian air defenses as current interceptor drones struggle to catch up with their higher speeds. Other Topics of Interest Russian Drones Just Miss Former CIA Director David Petraeus: a View From a Train Near the Polish Border Eyewitness account of the attack on a railway station that nearly hit former CIA Director David Petraeus. While Ukraine has been developing jet-powered interceptor drones as a countermeasure, Zelensky’s remark suggests a potential gap in Ukrainian air defense, as the AIM-9s and AIM-120s are typically costlier than interceptor drones.While the latest AIM-9X Sidewinder missile is estimated to cost over $450,000 per unit, Ukrainian Air Force F-16s almost always carry the AIM-9M which cost about $84,000 when originally purchased by the US Air Force (USAF). The AIM-120 is $386,000 per unit, according to the US Air Force – though TWZ reported that some variants can cost over $1 million per missile.Ukraine began receiving the missiles as part of the armaments for its new NATO-standard aircraft donated by its allies, starting with the F-16 in mid-2024, though the total number received remains classified.Ukraine’s demands for air-to-air missilesThe rise of jet-powered drones has exposed a gap in Ukraine’s layered air defense, with what was once reserved to counter cruise missiles now used to counter Russian drones.Since 2022, Russia’s aerial threats against Ukrainian cities primarily consist of Iranian-designed, propeller-driven Shahed drones and their Russian variants, with the occasional cruise and ballistic missiles.Those drones are often countered by machine-gun fire and electronic jamming or, more recently, by propeller-driven interceptor drones, with a 90% overall interception rate, whereas air defense missiles – both ground and air-launched – are reserved for cruise missiles, with the scarce and coveted Patriot systems reserved for the faster ballistic missiles.But with more jet-powered drones flying over Ukraine, Kyiv has had to intercept them with the missile stockpiles reserved for cruise missiles – including the AIM-9s and AIM-120s, according to Zelensky.Are the new pledges enough?Ukraine has long struggled with the number of those missiles in its arsenal, with shortages reported in late 2025.Kyiv’s allies have since tried to remedy the situation. On July 30, the Pentagon announced approval of a $3.5 billion contract to produce thousands of AIM-120s for countries worldwide, including Ukraine – while total production is estimated to reach thousands by 2031, it’s unclear how many were destined for Ukraine.More recently, at the 36th Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting, Berlin said it would boost AIM-9 deliveries from Bundeswehr stocks – but again, the exact number is not disclosed.But known deliveries – before Ukraine ran out in 2025 – suggest that numbers have been limited.One publicized figure from Canada suggests it sent at least 12 AIM-120s, 43 AIM-9s, and 250 AIM-7s in 2023, excluding other components sent to Ukraine. Dutch monitoring site Oryx estimated 43 AIM-9s and 287 AIM-7s from Canada, with no AIM-120s mentioned.At present, Russia is estimated to be launching 100-200 drones per day against Ukraine consistently, excluding cruise missiles, with the Air Force suggesting in late August that over half were jet-powered at times.Assuming Russia launches only 50 jet-powered drones and cruise missiles at Ukraine per day, that would be around 1,500 targets for Ukraine to shoot down, AIM-120s or not.The good news for Ukraine is that the industry is scaling up production of jet-powered interceptors, other air defense missiles are available, and Russia may be having trouble getting Chinese jet engines for the drones.But the bad news is that it still needs to intercept over 1,000 jet-powered drones that fly like a missile each month, one way or another. Leo Chiu is a journalist and editor based in Eastern Europe since 2015. He has witnessed two presidential elections in Belarus and traveled widely to conflict zones and contested regions, producing reporting that bridges the gap between major developments and local realities.