What does NRC think | The Ukrainian drone attack on Russian bombers must also be a warning for Western countries

The recent Ukrainian drone attack On dozens of strategic bombers, deep in Russia, it probably goes into history as one of the most bold and brutest war operations of modern times. Russian planes went up in flames at thousands of kilometers from the front line.

Operation ‘spider web’ does not mean a change in the war. For the Ukrainians, the overwhelming of the Russian defense does mean a moral boost, similar to the raid on Koersk or the attack on the Krimbrug in 2022. It shows that Russia is vulnerable. That the Russians were so surprised is for President Putin a painful humiliation. In addition, the Russian population cannot escape that the war against Ukraine can now be felt daily in their own country. Now even in Siberia.

Resourcefulness has become a trademark of the Ukrainians in recent years. Earlier, the Land-without-Name-worthy-Marine succeeded in the Russian Black Sea Fleet to be expelled From the waters around Crimea. « You don’t have the cards, » Donald Trump scorned At the end of February against President Zensky. Nevertheless, Ukraine succeeds in staying up militarily – and increasingly and more and harder to hit goals in Russia.

With the development of an impressive arsenal of drones – for the long distance, above the front line and on the high seas – the Ukrainians have unleashed a true revolution in warfare. Relatively cheap drones form the cornerstone of the asymmetrical war that Ukraine ways; Smart weapons compensate for the lack of manpower, equipment and expensive, advanced rockets. The end of that development is by no means in sight: swarming with hundreds or even thousands of drones and the large -scale deployment of robots on the battlefield, controlled by artificial intelligence (AI), are no longer a science fiction.

That Ukrainian inventiveness arouses, rightly, admiration among allies. But the Western partners would also be wise to regard the Ukrainian drone attack as a powerful warning. Every Ukrainian innovation at the front, as the experience of the past three years, is not only copied by the Russians in no time, but also in mass production and used against the original. Also in Western countries, the very expensive defense equipment at airports or in ports runs the risk of being attacked by cheap drones that can hardly be traced. That is not a ranger; In the past year, unidentified drones have been spotted in military bases in the US, the UK, Germany and above Norwegian weapon factories. And it is no secret that the Russian Shadow War becomes more intensive every year.

The warfare in Ukraine has been described by analysts as a ‘first world war with drones’. Drones have ushered in a new era, but that does not mean that tanks, artillery or combat aircraft have become superfluous. On the contrary. Drones do not conquer terrain and do not deliver the firepower of the artillery or a Leopard tank.

However, the recent evolution of warfare shows that drones deserve a leading place in a modern armed forces, including the Dutch, and that the security of military goals and crucial infrastructure against hostile drones should be given top priority. Simply trusting the technological superiority, such as decades was enough in Western countries, is no longer of this time.

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