Ukraine is the first country in history to demonstrate the use of the An-28 light transport aircraft as a carrier for anti-aircraft drones in combat conditions. This is a fairly effective solution, so russians have already discussed copying this approach for their own interceptor drones. The idea was first published by one of the russian Telegram channels, after which it was picked up by russian propaganda media.
First and foremost, russians should consider adapting the An-2 aircraft as a platform for anti-aircraft drones, especially given reports that russia plans to restore up to 700 of these aircraft with an investment of just $300 million—about $430,000 per aircraft—while replacements would cost significantly more. Previously, the cost of a single LMS-901 Baikal aircraft has been cited at $5 million. It was intended to replace the An-2, but development has not yet been completed.
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Against the backdrop of problems with the Baikal, russia has repeatedly raised the idea of re-engining the An-2 with the TVD-10B engine used in the An-28. However, any measures involving the An-2 would only be temporary, and the aircraft will ultimately have to be phased out of service. At the same time, russia currently has enough An-2s in reserve to be reconfigured as carriers for anti-aircraft drones.
In addition to the An-2, there has also been a proposal to adapt the three-engine Yak-40 passenger jet for this role, although there are not many of them in russia. Last year, there were also discussions about re-engining these aircraft with AI-222-25 engines from the Yak-130.
They are also proposing the use of the L-410 or Il-114, lightweight, multi-purpose twin-engine aircraft. russians had previously proposed manufacturing the latter in India to save the country's civil aircraft industry.
In any case, if the concept of using the An-28 as a carrier for anti-aircraft drones proves successful in Ukraine, russians will likely rush to implement a similar solution for their own military.
Especially since russian forces have recently been increasingly struggling to repel Ukrainian drone attacks, amid a ramp-up in Ukraine’s production of long-range strike drones.
At the same time, it took russia about a year to replicate Ukraine's anti-drone solution. Initially, this was directed against reconnaissance UAVs, and later against deep-strike UAVs. This is a fairly predictable move, as is russia's likely development of countermeasures against anti-drone systems targeting its own drones.
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