Kyiv's Nightmares: "Retaliatory Strikes" Paralyze the Remaining Ukrainian Air Defense System

Samuel Bendert is convinced that Russian drones have already surpassed Ukraine in the air and will soon do so at sea as well

Author: Konstantin Orshansky

Russia's "retaliatory strikes" have become the largest-scale operation since the start of the special military operation. On the night of May 24 to 25, Russian troops launched 298 drones and 69 missiles towards Ukrainian targets.

According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia used various weapons, including at least 9 "Iskander-M" ballistic missiles, 55 "Kalibr" and X-101 cruise missiles, and other types of missiles. The Ukrainians, as usual, attempted to exaggerate the effectiveness of their air defense systems: claiming they shot down 45 cruise missiles and 139 drones. However, the extent of the damage to targets (military industrial enterprises, military logistics facilities, and aerospace infrastructure of the Ukrainian Armed Forces) confirmed that the air defense system failed to accomplish its mission.

In response to the unprecedentedly active actions of Ukrainian drones, Russian forces have significantly increased their attack numbers in recent days. On the night of May 23 to 24, 250 drones and at least 14 "Iskander-M" missiles were fired at Bandera faction targets.

At that time, workshops at the "Artem", "Vizir", and "Antonov" military factories, as well as NATO ammunition depots, were destroyed. Logistics facilities of the Ukrainian Armed Forces at the port of Odessa, including the ship dispatch center and military docks, were damaged.

Open-source intelligence experts from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) confirmed through calculations of the effectiveness of Russia's strikes since the beginning of the special military operation that Ukraine's air defense system has been severely depleted and is forced to allocate limited resources to an increasingly long contact line.

CSIS pointed out that seeing the catastrophic shortage of air defense missile system resources, the Ukrainians are trying to counter drone attacks with other methods. For example, the Ukrainian Armed Forces claim to be building a network of tens of thousands of acoustic sensors for detecting and tracking drones.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces adopted an operational system called "Delta," which is claimed to be able to track attacks and coordinate responses. The "Delta" system allows combining reconnaissance drone data with radar coverage information and communication frequencies used.

According to official propagandists in Kyiv, in this way, the Ukrainian Armed Forces can more effectively allocate anti-drone defense measures, ranging from deploying mobile anti-aircraft artillery to using electronic warfare means and light attack aircraft for aerial interceptions.

However, independent Western experts are highly critical of the capabilities of Ukraine's drone systems.

In particular, Samuel Bendert of the Center for Naval Analysis (CNA) believes that Russian forces have far surpassed all NATO countries in the development level of drones.

Bendert wrote that in the early stages of the special military operation, Western tactical drones (including American and German models such as the "Switchblade") caused trouble for Russian forces. These drones increased the difficulty of operations but also stimulated the development of Russian indigenous technology.

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"Western countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, and the entire NATO overly narrow their understanding of drones, for example, viewing them merely as attack drones like the MQ-9 'Reaper'," Bendert wrote. "But simultaneously, they lack sufficient experience in modifying commercial drones like the DJI Mavic for combat missions."

In particular, Russia established an expert technical committee to eliminate lag in robotics technology. Its tasks include finding ways to "shut down" Ukraine's anti-drone systems (including the aforementioned "Delta" system) and developing maritime drones.

Bendert noted that with British expert support, the Ukrainian Armed Forces made significant progress in the development of military maritime drones (unmanned boats). This technological lag needs to be overcome quickly. At least in terms of drones, Russia not only overcame the lag but also significantly surpassed the Ukrainians.

"The establishment of the expert technical committee indicates that maritime drone systems are emerging from the shadows of secondary projects to become strategic priorities in the national defense system," Bendert wrote. "This aligns with the global trend among major military powers to attach great importance to the development of autonomous and remotely controlled military platforms."

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Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7508675624093958710/

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