Ukrainian F-16 downs Russian Shahed drone with Vulcan cannon in new footage
February 10, 2026
New combat footage has emerged from Ukraine showing a Ukrainian F-16 Fighting Falcon taking out a Russian Shahed-style drone at close range with its M61A1 Vulcan rotary cannon. It was captured by a bystander on the ground.
Video of Ukraine shooting down drone with autocannon
The Russian Geran-2 (Russian-produced version of the Shahed-136) is seen exploding mid-air as one hears the unmistakable sound of the F-16’s gun firing.
Really impressive video of a Shahed being shot down by an F-16 fighter jet from the 107th Aviation Wing of the Ukrainian Air Force.
— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) February 8, 2026
The interception was carried out using the aircraft’s M61A1 Vulcan onboard rotary cannon. pic.twitter.com/cPsrdBIEaA
According to the OSINT account, Special Kerson Cat, the Ukrainian F-16 belongs to the Ukrainian Air Force’s 107th Separate Aviation Wing.
It is unclear if the F-16 had “gone Winchester,” meaning it had used all its missiles already, or if it was using its cannon, as missiles are limited and expensive.
These close gun kills against slow-moving targets with autocannons can be dangerous for fast jets. Soon after Ukraine received its first F-16, one crashed while shooting down Russian targets.
It was reported, although not confirmed, that it had ingested material from the destroyed drone.
Other F-16 combat footage from Ukraine includes a December 2025 video showing an F-16 chasing down a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile at low altitude.
Other Ukrainian methods to take down Shahed drones
There are plenty of other videos emerging online showing Ukraine destroying Russian drones, helicopters, and missiles from its fighter jets. One of Ukraine’s most effective defences against Russian drones has been the development of interceptor drones.
Ukrainian Mirage 2000 pilots spoke in November about the success they have with the aircraft using French Magic-2 missiles.
Separately, there are reports that France is about to supply Ukraine with more Mirage 2000 fighter jets. Ukraine has also sought to acquire four subsonic light Czech fighter jets, but this stalled after the affair got caught up in domestic Czech politics.
One of the most impressive individual aircraft in Ukraine is an old repurposed Antonov An-28 turboprop passenger aeroplane. It was recently filmed, displaying around 114 Shahed-style drone kill marks.
There are videos of the An-28 shooting down a Russian Shahed-style drone by door gunners using a US-made M134 Minigun rotary machine gun.
French channel TF1 shows an An-28 passenger plane, armed with miniguns, shooting down Shahed drones over Ukraine. The aircraft's crew, consisting of civilian volunteers, has shot down nearly 150 UAVs in total.https://t.co/WU2nuiIqpO pic.twitter.com/LhdwO623Ne
— WarTranslated (@wartranslated) February 5, 2026
The kill marks of a European-supplied SAMP/T SAM system were also recently seen. Besides numerous drone and cruise missile kill marks, it also appeared to have kill marks of what could be Russian glide bombs and a pair of Su-34s.
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Growing Ukraine’s air force
While many enthusiasts were eager to compare F-16s with Russian fighter jets, this misframes the air war in Ukraine.
Footage of a Ukrainian Air Force F-16 chasing down a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile. pic.twitter.com/uiACe7SjFd
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) December 22, 2025
Broadly speaking, ground-based air defences and fighter jets keep each other’s air forces at bay, with neither side able to penetrate each other’s protected airspace.
Ukrainian fighter jets are primarily tasked with countering drones and missiles fired into their airspace, although they do carry out strikes and sometimes take shots at Russian aircraft coming too close.
According to the OSINT blog, Oryx, over 122 fixed-wing aircraft of varying descriptions have been pledged to Ukraine, of which over 80 have been delivered.
Slow-motion footage of Shahed being shot down with an M134D Minigun mounted on a Mi-8 helicopter. pic.twitter.com/kw0tgK9Mwu
— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) February 5, 2026
These include 24 F-16s pledged by the Netherlands, 19 F-16s by Denmark, 14 by Norway, and 30 by Belgium. Most or all Danish, Dutch, and Norwegian F-16s are thought to have been delivered, while Belgian deliveries will not be completed until 2028.
Ukraine is planning to have a post-war fighter jet fleet of around 250 fighter jets, mostly made up of Saab Gripens and Dassault Rafales.
Featured Image: Ukraine Air Force
