A Geran-2 (Shahed 136) assault drone is seen exploding in mid air shortly earlier than an F-16 soars overhead, with the unmistakable sound of an M61 Vulcan cannon heard within the background.
That is at the least the second time such a kill has been captured on video, although this new footage – first posted on Telegram – is essentially the most clear that we’ve had up to now. The Iranian-designed one-way assault drone flies virtually instantly overhead the individual filming the video after which is abruptly engulfed in an enormous explosion a number of instances the dimensions of the plane. An F-16, stated to be a kind of operated by the 107th Separate Aviation Wing of the Ukrainian Air Drive, follows shortly after, pulling up and away from the explosion because the delayed sound of the plane’s rotary cannon reaches the digital camera.
An F-16 fighter jet operated by the Ukrainian Air Drive intercepts a Russian Shahed/Geran-type long-range OWA-UAV with its M61A1 Vulcan 20mm auto-cannon.
BRRRRTTT second pic.twitter.com/B2JFI3XC7U
— Standing-6 (Conflict & Navy Information) (@Archer83Able) February 8, 2026
Celebrations might be heard from these on the bottom as bits of particles from the drone tumble by way of the air, apparently right into a wooded space. Russia has employed the Shahed 136, which it designates Geran-2, extensively throughout its invasion of Ukraine they usually first appeared within the second half of 2022. They’ve been used to assault crucial infrastructure and army services, in addition to civilian buildings. Modifications have even seen the 200 kilogram drones outfitted with anti-aircraft missiles.
Countering Drones
Comparatively low value in comparison with extra superior and far quicker guided missiles, one-way assault drones are designed to have the ability to be utilized in massive numbers both over time or concurrently and trigger fast depletion in an adversary’s anti-aircraft munition stockpiles. The price of an intercepting missile far outweighs the price of the comparatively easy drone, so intercepts utilizing gun ammunition is way extra preferable each time doable.
Anti-aircraft weapons have seen a resurgence after many countries had written them off in favor of floor to air missiles (SAMs), with Ukraine using DShK machine weapons in tandem with searchlights in a tactic very paying homage to scenes seen in the course of the Second World Conflict. Extra superior developments contain the usage of thermal imaging sights or searchlights that use infrared beams. Trendy, bigger caliber anti-aircraft weapons just like the German Gepard, developed within the Sixties – displaying how way back even newer fashions of anti-aircraft weapons have been developed – have additionally made their approach into Ukraine’s stock.
Ukrainian TDF forces within the north check out a transportable antiaircraft searchlight system, primarily geared toward recognizing smaller loitering munitions just like the Shahed-136. pic.twitter.com/hCuTMHImGe
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) March 11, 2023
Helicopters and fixed-wing plane have additionally used their weapons to deal with the drone thread. This contains crew-served door weapons in addition to the nostril mounted turrets of Mi-24 Hind assault helicopters. Piston-engined Yak-52 coaching plane have been referred to as into service too, with the rear crew member apparently answerable for utilizing a handheld weapon to shoot down drones very similar to in an early First World Conflict dogfight. Current footage shot by a French information crew confirmed the extent of success attained by an Antonov An-28 with crew-served M134 miniguns, scoring over 150 drone kills.
French channel TF1 reveals an An-28 passenger airplane, armed with miniguns, taking pictures down Shahed drones over Ukraine. The plane’s crew, consisting of civilian volunteers, has shot down almost 150 UAVs in complete. pic.twitter.com/LhdwO623Ne
— WarTranslated (@wartranslated) February 5, 2026
The M61 Vulcan
The M134 is successfully a scaled down model of the M61 Vulcan utilized by the F-16 to down the Russian drone. Quite than the 7.62mm ammunition utilized by the minigun, the plane cannon as an alternative fires 20mm rounds at a price of as much as 6,000 per minute. The M61 first noticed fight use in 1965 and has been in frontline service repeatedly since that date, fitted to plane as far aside because the F-104 Starfighter and the F-22 Raptor. It additionally options on the enduring Phalanx close-in weapons system (CIWS) carried by many warships and in addition tailored right into a shore-based air defence system.
Though gun kills are way more preferable from an financial and logistics standpoint, saving dearer and fewer expendable weapons for extra subtle threats, it does drive fighter crews into engagements at very low stage towards comparatively gradual transferring targets. This does current a a lot increased stage of danger than the stand-off launching of an air to air missile – if profitable, it’s extremely efficient, but when errors are made this might shortly trigger the lack of each the plane and, extra importantly, its extremely educated pilot.
Platforms just like the An-28 mitigate this by making the weapon trainable – the plane can fly straight and stage whereas the crew goals the weapon on the goal. For an F-16, the pilot should as an alternative level the nostril of their jet on the goal whereas additionally factoring within the excessive danger of collateral injury. If an assault is carried out from the identical altitude or beneath, stray 20mm rounds may unintentionally trigger extreme injury on the bottom and even threaten civilian lives. As a substitute, an assault would ideally be produced from above, heading in direction of the bottom, guaranteeing that stray rounds as an alternative impression harmlessly into terrain.
Footage of a Ukrainian Air Drive F-16 chasing down a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile. pic.twitter.com/uiACe7SjFd
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) December 22, 2025
It’s not recognized precisely what number of F-16s have up to now been transferred into Ukrainian arms, although it is sufficient to maintain ‘day by day’ sorties which by January 2026 had resulted in over 1,000 aerial kills of drones and cruise missiles. A minimum of 4 F-16s have been misplaced, with three of those losses having taken place throughout drone assaults. In three out of those 4 recognized circumstances the pilot didn’t survive.
Extra F-16s, together with different plane each within the quick and long run, are on the way in which, however the loss price of present plane needs to be saved sustainable by delicately balancing these increased danger missions towards the operational necessity of utilizing these property reasonably than different plane or ground-based air defences (GBAD).
