Ukraine deploys AI-guided air-defense turrets
A new autonomous air-defense turret funded through a joint UNITED24 and NAFO campaign is now ready to protect Ukrainian cities from drones and missiles, according to an announcement from UNITED24.
The system, known as Sky Sentinel, was financed as part of the Dark Night fundraising effort and has already completed combat trials on the front line.
In a statement, UNITED24 said: “Named after fallen Ukrainian heroes, Chris ‘Swampy’ Garrett, Andrii ‘Juice’ Pilshchykov, and Peter Fouché, they, too, will be defending Ukraine — from russian drones and missiles.”
As noted by the organization, Sky Sentinel is an AI-guided automatic turret designed by Ukrainian engineers to counter a wide range of aerial threats with high accuracy and very limited operator input. The platform uses automated target recognition, precision tracking, and stabilized firing mechanisms to intercept hostile aircraft in its engagement area.
According to the announcement, the system has already demonstrated battlefield performance. The turret successfully destroyed six Shahed one-way attack drones during combat evaluation, earning the nickname “the Shahed hunter” among units that tested it.
Company reporting from UNITED24 explains that Sky Sentinel is built to neutralize not only Iranian-designed Shahed drones—known in Russia as the Geran series—but also smaller commercial UAVs, larger cruise-missile-type targets, and other low-altitude threats commonly used in Russia’s nightly strike campaigns.
The campaign that financed these new air-defense turrets, Dark Night, is the fifth official collaboration between NAFO and UNITED24. Both organizations say the effort focuses on providing Ukrainian forces with high-tech defensive systems that can be fielded quickly and adapted to frontline conditions.
In a release, UNITED24 said the ongoing partnership has already delivered several categories of unmanned and autonomous equipment to Ukrainian forces. “Together we have already launched four special fundraisers — for naval drones Raccoon’s Revenge and NAFOleon Blownapart, more than 300 FPV drones, and 14 Fellas Fury robots — raising nearly 1 million dollars,” the organization noted.
Ukraine’s military has increasingly relied on automated and semi-autonomous systems to reinforce short-range air defense following Russia’s expanded use of suicide drones and low-flying cruise missiles. Systems like Sky Sentinel are designed to operate continuously, identify incoming threats at night or in low-visibility conditions, and engage them without exposing soldiers to direct fire or debris impact.
The Sky Sentinel units named after Garrett, Pilshchykov, and Fouché will be delivered to frontline air-defense groups, where they are expected to help counter Russia’s winter strike campaign against Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
