Russia and Ukraine's Air War: An Eye for an Eye, a Drone for a Drone
In just three days, Ukrainian drones hit two gunpowder factories, factories producing antennas for Russian long-range drones, and reconnaissance drones. The Russians, in revenge for the attack on their strategic bombers, struck the largest Ukrainian cities .
At one time, the Kremlin army fired up to 400 drones, as well as missiles and guided missiles. The latter in slightly smaller quantities than before, because they are launched from aircraft, and the Russian air force felt the effects of Ukrainian strikes on its strategic bombers.
Large, inaccurate Russian drones"(The Russians) are launching their drones in swarms. They have entire systems for deceiving our defense. Their devices change course, each time they hit the targets differently," says Anna Hvozdiar, Ukraine's deputy minister of strategic industry.
Ukrainian defense detects these devices because there is a network of about 7,500 listening points in the country, from which information about flying drones is transmitted to headquarters.
The basis of Russian drone attacks are Iranian Shahids, cheap to produce, not very accurate, but with a large explosive charge. Military experts point out that the Russians have made so many modifications to them that it is difficult to talk about Iranian missiles, rather the Russian name Geran should be used. Ukrainian defense has even observed new Gerans with jet engines flying at over 300 kilometers per hour.
At the same time as the Russian arsenal is being modernized, the United States is reducing its aid to Ukraine, including its air defense. This concerns the APWKS missiles, which Washington sent to the Middle East instead of the Dnieper. They are one of the best weapons against the Geranians - cheaper than them, very accurate and fired from Vampire systems, designed specifically for Ukraine.
– We should not rely on the US. And there is already a replacement, from the French concern Thales – says Ukrainian expert Oleh Katkov.
– Ukraine and Europe should take care of their own security and defense. Without any illusions that we can expect anything from the Americans – adds political scientist Mykhailo Samus.
However, the biggest role in combating Russian missiles is played not by anti-aircraft missile systems, but by mobile groups armed only with machine guns and hand-held anti-aircraft grenade launchers. However, increasing the speed of Gerania raises questions about their effectiveness.
In turn, the Ukrainians attack Russia with a large number of different missiles - their production is decentralized and each manufacturer offers its own. There are probably more than 20 of them now: from converted small planes (like the Ninja or A-22) to drones that look like small missiles. And 1/3 of them are unknown even by name, let alone their capabilities.
Overall, however, they can carry smaller explosives than the Russian Geranias, and are slower. But their weakness is their strength, flying slowly but far at low altitudes, undetectable by Russian air defenses still adapted to combat American missiles rather than Ukrainian drones.
The basis of Ukrainian air attacks on Russia is probably the Liutyj drone, designed at the Kiev Antonov plant. It certainly has a range of no less than 600 kilometers, because it hit the Russian refinery in Saratov at that distance from the Ukrainian border in November last year.
However, attacks by hundreds of drones, whether Russian or Ukrainian, have not changed and will not change the course of the war. "The Ukrainians have managed to reduce the production and export of Russian fuel by attacking refineries. In turn, Russian strikes have repeatedly caused an energy crisis in Ukraine. But neither the Ukrainians have managed to undermine the Russian economy, nor the Russians to break the will of Ukrainian society to resist," an independent Russian analyst sums up the air campaign.
RP
