MAKING DO: Hunting Russian Drones in a Prop Plane With Shotguns and Rifles.

This month, a beaten-up, Soviet-era propeller-driven plane taxied to a halt on a rural runway and two of Ukraine’s top air aces clambered out, one carrying a rifle. The pair, clad in olive-drab flight suits, are part of a low-tech solution to the high-tech problem of Russian drones.

The 56-year-old pilot, who learned to fly as a hobby before the war, and the gunner, 38, a former auto mechanic who had never been in a plane before the invasion, are part of a squadron dedicated to knocking down the unmanned Russian attack and reconnaissance aircraft that are the bane of ground troops and civilians.

In the past year, these two unlikely air warriors have flown around 300 combat missions as part of the 11th Army Aviation Brigade and downed almost half the unit’s total of 120 drones eliminated, according to its deputy commander, Col. Mykola Lykhatskiy.

Ukraine has some of the West’s most advanced air defenses, including the Patriot missile system. It also has F-16 jets that it sometimes uses to down missiles and drones. But it has also developed a series of lower-cost tactics to counter the threat from the skies, ranging from nets to signal jamming.

Is the Pentagon paying attention?