Calling it Shahed is a very weird propaganda twist.
Calling it a propaganda twist ignores how the thing came to be.
Everyone keeps iterating on someone else's previous work. That's how it works.
The latest jet drones being discussed in this article have nothing in common with Shaheds at all.
Renaming another country’s weapon is a very weird propaganda move. Why would anyone do that?
https://www.oryxspioenkop.com/2019/09/the-oryx-handbook-of-i...
Also would not be surprised if there was knowledge sharing either previously when their let them clone the main Shahed variant or even to this day.
For example, the Storm Shadow missile in the UK is essentially the same as Scalp missile in France. Yet whoever produces chooses a name.
Renaming a Russian made drone is WEIRD. You can only name the weapons you make.
Many also describe the US-made LUCAS drone as a Shahed clone, which clear up what role this system fills.
Ukraine needs Patriot or an equivalent air to ground capability, but those are extremely expensive.
It sounds like the prop-driven shaheds were being intercepted with prop-driven drones piloted manually? I suppose that shows the relevant technology for guidance has been kept secret enough that it's not instantly being cloned, or is more expensive than human operators.
Also I expect similar Ukrainian adaptation using some sort of jet propulsion or even rocket assistance to counter them. Not to mention getting a jet powered response in the Russian direction.
Patriots and similar SAM/ABMs are best reserved for intercepting ballistic missiles rather than frittering them away pointlessly like the current US regime.
Given that they show footage of men shooting down similar drones from airplanes, perhaps they can eventually build a larger more stable platform with a more reliable aim using projectiles.
I don't think it's that simple to build it, otherwise they would have all done it.
Edit: it's called rheinmetall skyranger.
The problem with that is that behind the Rheinmetall brand name it's actually made by Switzerland's former Oerlikon before the Rheinmetall acquisition, and Switzerland doesn't sell military gear to countries currently at war due to its neutrality status. So for Ukraine it might as well be vaporware as they aint getting it (officially).
However, I knew that Rheinmetall was going to/delivered the skyranger. [0]
[0]: https://en.defence-ua.com/news/rheinmetall_develops_automati...
Also these kamikaze drones are not flying in huge flocks like WW2 bomber that tried to cover each other with machine guns - even if a gun armed interceptor shoots one down, it might not be able to intercept another during the raid.
Some bigger, L-39 sized jet drones on the other hand could be quite capable, possibly launching separate one-way interceptors on top of guns.
I'm sure the Ukrainians can draw two curves and see where they intercept
My guess is the Ukrainians will put a rocket on their interceptor drones, and develop some sort of radar or heat seeking guidance system. Perhaps we'll end up with an interesting hybrid interceptor missile that uses electric propulsion for part of the journey?
What's difficult for Ukraine to stop is Geran-5 manufacturing that is expanding and going deep underground, and 1.6T RUB ($25B USD) will be invested in this sector this year. The rest of Russia's traditional military-industrial complex including feeder supply chain subcontractors in above-ground buildings are easy pickings. Recently, a FLIR sensor manufacturer used by multiple cruise missiles and surface-to-air missiles was obliterated by 4 FP-1's. Ukraine is getting good OSINT and other intel on Russia's military contractors and going after them one-by-one to halt the ability of Russia to produce complete weapon systems or produce replacements/spare parts.