C4ISRNET reported on 1 April that Ukraine's air defence interception rate reached 89.9% in March, the highest monthly figure of the entire war, up from 85.6% in February and 80.2% in December 20251. Over 2,300 Russian aerial targets were destroyed. Interceptor drones now account for over 30% of all air defence kills, and more than 70% of Shahed downings specifically.
The economics reshape the attrition calculus. A single interceptor drone costs under $2,000. A PAC-3 MSE round costs $13.5 million. Zelenskyy told the BBC on 26 March that 800 US-made interceptors were consumed in three days of the Iran war, compared to 700 Ukraine received over its entire winter. At 60 to 65 Patriot missiles produced per month, replacing those 800 rounds takes over a year.
Russian attack volumes rose 23.5% month on month: 6,600 aerial threats in March, up from 5,345 in February. The 948-drone barrage on 24 March remains the single largest attack of the war. The absolute number of threats slipping through is not falling proportionally to the interception rate. But the cost curve has shifted: Ukraine is spending thousands per kill where it once spent millions. The Pentagon's planned $750 million diversion from the PURL fund loses some leverage if Ukraine's primary air defence tool is domestically produced.
