The Ukrainian Air Force has released footage demonstrating its F-16 fighter jets effectively intercepting Iranian-made Shahed drones using low-cost APKWS II guided rockets. This development, confirmed by analysts citing Defence Express, occurred during a Russian aerial attack on the night of February 16-17, where 392 out of 425 attacking assets were neutralized. The video shows a targeting system locking onto a drone, followed by a relatively slow-moving missile destroying the target, consistent with the characteristics of an APKWS II rocket fired from an F-16 equipped with an AN/AAQ-33 Sniper targeting pod. While F-16s with these capabilities were first spotted in early December 2025, this marks the first visual evidence of their use in combat, offering a cost-effective solution against drones, with each APKWS II rocket costing approximately $30,000 compared to millions for standard air-to-air missiles.