Russian bombers destroyed by Ukrainian drones for several hundred euros
The monumental destructive significance of the Ukrainian attack on the Russian fleet of bombers cannot be overestimated. These aircraft equipped with long -range missiles are among the most important strategic weapon systems at Moscow. They are part of the nuclear triad, through which Russia scares off the main powers armed with nuclear weapons, because they provide Moscow with the possibility of a second impact – the ability to retaliate after a nuclear attack.
The Russian nuclear triad has ignited. An attack that will revolutionize modern wars
The other two elements of the Russian triad are ballistic missiles fired from submarines and intercontinental ballistic missiles fired from the land that could reach, for example, to the United States.
If it is true that Ukraine managed to eliminate one -third of Russian long -range bombers, this is a serious blow to Russia. One that was not delivered using sophisticated military equipment, but with small drones largely based on ready -made technology, Probably costing only a few hundred euros each – but, according to Kiev, caused damage worth about seven billion euros. Welcome to the world of asymmetrical war.
The Ukrainian attack will go down to the history of the military due to the creative and destructive use of a relatively new and inexpensive weapon system. It also emphasizes the huge threat, which are small drones, which every entity – including non -state entities – can acquire relatively easy.
In recent years, the Ukrainian Front has witnessed how small, mass -produced drones transform and revolutionize the fight in the light in the trenches. Now Ukraine has shown that these drones can also be used in a large -scale confusion operation to attack and eliminate very distant goals.
These discreetly arranged drones of drones generally change the landscape of safety and threats – around the world. Because they can be discreetly arranged anywhere, and then run at any time, without exposing the drone pilots remotely.
« If you are the commander of the Air Force and you do not spend sleepless nights, thinking about how to defend aircraft on your bases from this type of threats, how to distribute planes, arm them in the event of such attacks or how to use the dummy, you will probably lose another war, » says Tim Robbins, editor -in
Russians attacked by drones. In Syria, this happened for the first time
Indeed, the Russians should be warned. Finally, their planes at the Syrian Air Base in Khmeimi were the first in history to be attacked by a drone swarm. In 2018, this Syrian opposition took action against Russian jets because, together with the Assad regime, they attacked the military and civilian goals of the opponents of the Assad regime.
The Russians began to build barriers around their aircraft to protect themselves from drone attacks. However, they omitted such protective measures in Russia itself. Due to the large distance from the front line in Ukraine, they apparently thought that they were not exposed. Unlike Chmejmim, which at that time was constantly attacked by Opposition Militia, the Ukrainian front lines were sometimes many thousand kilometers from the attacked bombers, which created a false sense of security.
Ukrainians used a fraudulent maneuver to achieve the ability of a long range, which would otherwise be available only to the most powerful armies in the world. A trick that could potentially be used by each country or a terrorist organization. Indeed, « dormant drones » have been arranged on the front of the front in Ukraine for some time.
These « dormant drones » are arranged in a specific place and set in readiness mode. They activate and attack only when enemy vehicles or soldiers approach the drone. Due to the closeness and short response time, the victims have little defense.
Ukrainians implemented the same principle. Instead of flying with long -range drones over Russia’s territory, which would require a long warning time and would give a lot of opportunities to intercept by defensive systems, Ukrainians hit close proximity, giving air bases little time to defend.
So what Ukraine implemented on Sunday was actually « sleeping drones » on a large scale and long distances. They were parked in double container roofs and transported by unaware Russian forwarders near the air bases. There, they were all activated at the same time. In this way they revolutionized a modern war.
« Ukraine has shown that drones can overcome multi -layered air defense and eliminate high -value goals, » writes a security expert George Allison in the defense magazine « UK Defense Journal ». « It has been shown that cheap technology can cause huge damage, if it is used creatively and carefully. Everything you need is a plan and patience, » he adds.
According to the Australian military thinker, Mick Ryan, the Ukrainian attack shows that the modern war has changed fundamentally. « The lesson is that military bases, both in the war zones and in the country, are more than ever exposed to cheap, easy to hide and quickly arranged weapons, which appears suddenly and without warning, » writes Ryan in an article for the Lowa Institute.
In any case, you can imagine that Ukrainian tactics will be used everywhere in the world. For example, it is possible that Russia in the future will place « sleeping drones » near important strategic assets of Western states. They could be parked there for years, provided that they have minimal power supply and then activated in the event of a conflict to turn off the key western military abilities in one go. The Chinese could plan something similar in the case of a potential attack on Taiwan.
And it’s hard to imagine the massacre that Islamic terrorists could make in Western cities with the help of such « dormant drones ». They wouldn’t even need ready fighters to sacrifice their lives if it was necessary; They could pilot drones from hiding or do it completely remotely.
In any case, the country no longer has to develop expensive aircraft carriers for jet fighters or intercontinental ballistic missiles to be able to hit every corner of the world. At the beginning of the year, Iran launched a aircraft carrier for drones – the first of its kind in the world.
Shahid Bagheri is a rebuilt containerist, which currently serves as a starting platform for drones, helicopters and rocket systems. According to Iranian sources, the ship has a range of 22,000 kilometers, which allows the regime to launch offensive weapons far beyond their own borders.
This is still a relatively little inspiring attempt to use the possibilities of a modern drone war. After all, Shahid Bagheri is clearly recognized as a war ship and can be quickly immobilized if it approaches a hostile state – such as Israel.
Experts, however, already develop scenarios in which commercial container ships could serve as secret platforms for drone war. As in the case of an attack on Ukraine, drones could be fired directly from containers in an unexpected attack.
Such so -called Q ships have a long tradition dating back to World War I. For example, British rebuilt and armed commercial vessels at Queenstown, Ireland (hence Q). The goal was to cheat German submarines and destroy them with the help of unexpected attacks of allegedly civil ships.
The Internet is full of speculation that the Chinese could convert modern containers into rocket launchers that could be carried out, for example, on America from civilian ships-a modern version of Q-ships. This is impractical for many reasons, including because of the high mass of rocket launchers and their high energy requirements.
However, the situation is different in the case of small drones filled with explosives, as the Ukrainians have just demonstrated. Due to their small size, they can be easily hidden in containers and require low power.
The question, however, is whether military planners in the West have really prepared a new threat mentally. « (Ukrainian) Attacks are another harbinger of the war of the future, whose Western military institutions have not yet fully accepted, » criticizes the military thinker Ryan. The Ukrainian special operation was therefore also a warning signal for everyone in the West who do not treat the new drone era seriously enough.
The article was based on the translation of the text from Welt.de. Its author is Clemens Wergin is the main correspondent for foreign policy Welt since 2020. He mainly has war in Ukraine, the Middle East and the USA.
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