This paper examines the impact of psycho-emotional disorders and professional burnout of interceptor UAV operators on the effectiveness of their combat employment, based on the experience of the Russia-Ukraine war. The conflict has become the first in history where both sides employ UAVs on a massive scale: Russia employed up to 300 strike drones of the "Shahed" and "Geran-3" types daily during winter 2025-2026. Ukraine's response was the deployment of interceptor drones, i.e. UAVs controlled by an operator through video goggles (FPV, first person view) in real time, destroying enemy drones by mid-air collision. In 2025, over 100,000 interceptors were produced, and the number of successful interceptions exceeded 1,000 per month. However, interceptor operators experience a significantly different stress profile compared to strike UAV operators: decision time ranges from a few seconds to 40 seconds depending on target speed, with 17-25 stress episodes per night shift and 500-750 per month. Operators work in field conditions near the contact line, under direct threat, with limited nutrition options and concealment requirements. Quantitative modeling demonstrates that by the end of an 8-hour night shift, the probability of hitting the target on the first attack decreases approximately twofold (from 0.70-0.80 to 0.30-0.40), and interceptor consumption per target increases 2-2.5 times. A significant research gap was identified: no empirical studies of interceptor UAV operator mental health exist. Practical recommendations are proposed: AI-assisted terminal guidance, optimizing shift duration (4-6 hours), psychological support, specialized field nutrition, and training adaptation.
Kravchenko et al. (Mon,) studied this question.
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