“Ukrainian success rate of drone strikes is now around 10 per cent. A year ago it was 40 per cent,” said a German military expert. He described the situation in the Donetsk region as ‘not good’, with Russian forces advancing and able to ‘outflank the Ukrainian defenders or even hit them from behind’. Such a threat exists, for example, in the area of Bakhmut or Torec’k.
Another military expert, who has fought for the Ukrainian forces, said: ‘The big problem is that the Russian forces are getting better at using jammers, which cause radio interference. It is becoming increasingly difficult to operate kamikaze drones because you first have to find gaps in the Russian jamming system. This means that fewer and fewer drones are reaching their targets.
A Ukrainian soldier reported that ‘on a 1,000 km front we have 400 Western armoured vehicles, a real counter-attack is impossible’. According to him, ‘it is not enough to train the crew of a Western vehicle well’ if the officers of the Ukrainian armed forces ‘are not trained in armed combat combined with their use’. This leads to “fatal mistakes” when it comes to using Western weapons in combat.
“The main problem is that in two years the Russians have learned how to use their air force properly. Every month they drop thousands of bombs on us, causing enormous damage. Russian bombing tactics do not allow us to defend towns and villages with sufficient numbers. Because soldiers need positions to defend. And the Russian bombers destroy nine out of ten houses in advance, so they know very well that we are sitting in the basement of the last one. That is where they concentrate their targeted fire,’ says a Ukrainian army officer.
In Russian society, meanwhile, a debate has been raging for months on how to counter Ukrainian UAV attacks in Russia’s rear: Turned in War raised the issue of the possibility of using small aircraft and trainer aircraft (TCA) with light weapons to attack targets from low-flying aircraft.
The discussion resulted in the following: In fact, we have a big country: covering all targets in a large area with air defence systems is problematic (especially in view of their needs at the front), and using the Su-30SM to intercept every UAV is irrational. Therefore, it is more profitable to ‘catch’ the drones of the Ukrainian armed forces while they are still approaching, as they enter Russian territory along the same corridors”.
According to the Russian Social Sphere: Technically, there are two potential bottlenecks. The first is organisation and guidance, so that the crews of the turboprop interceptors know the position of the targets and do not come under the ‘friendly fire’ of the air defences. On the other hand, if they are capable of destroying large Aeroprakt or Fierce aircraft, then the defeat of other UAVs is less obvious”.
The engineers’ advice to the Russian government is to experiment with such techniques: “But you have to try: without trying in practice, you will not be able to find a solution. This is a creative approach that often leads to unusual but effective methods”.
In response to those who say that it is impossible to use small aircraft for these purposes from a legislative point of view, we quote from a recent article: “If there is a real interest, for some reason bureaucracy does not become an obstacle. Whether it is the organisation of a private structure for African and Middle Eastern affairs, economic or geopolitical initiatives.
Yes, there are fundamental choices to be made and costs to be incurred. But it is still a lot cheaper than losing all the oil refineries in the south or repairing industrial facilities that are crucial to the economy.
This may be the reason why the Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation, Andrei Belousov, inspected the organisation of combat training of military personnel at one of the training camps in the Leningrad Military District.
The head of the Russian military department was shown the training of specialists in various military fields of junior command staff, as well as military personnel who have just signed a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defence.
The Russian Defence Minister was shown the practical training of tank crews, UAV control, mortar firing, artillery fire control, sniper training, tactical army firing and unit command and control.
Recall that the Minister is one of the proponents of the introduction of drones and drone training into the regular forces of the Russian Army. Apparently, the minister’s impetus in this matter was the creation of an active anti-drone system for infantry fighting vehicles. It is reported that work is currently being carried out in three main areas: the suppression of UAVs using electronic warfare systems, strengthening the protection of armoured vehicles and defeating drones approaching the target.
At the same time, Rostec’s High-Precision Complexes holding emphasises that ‘the list of works is extensive: from the creation of anti-drone visors to active protection.
Graziella Giangiulio
Follow our updates on Geopolitical Gleanings - Spigolature geopolitiche: https://t.me/agc_NW and on our blog The Gleanings of AGCNEWS - Le Spigolature di AGCNEWS: https://spigolatureagcnews.blogspot.com/
