The War in Ukraine Not a stranger to the drone, but Kamikaze Unmanned aerial vehicle attack Last week, in the Russian city of Rostov, we marked the beginning of the full chapter of the drone war. A small fragile Ukrainian drone with a small warhead flew across a tightly guarded front line and crashed into a Russian oil refinery on June 22, causing a massive fire. Given how cheap it is to build a drone, and how well it evaded Russia’s air defenses, Russian authorities may soon have to worry about defending oil, supply bases, and military installations. Russian territory..
The long-range Kamikaze corps is a new threat to Russia. Most observers of the Ukrainian conflict Switch blade drone Although offered by the United States, these are relatively short distances and require the operator to target them. Kamikaze drones, such as those used in Rostov attacks, can travel hundreds of miles without the need for an operator and are sufficient to bypass many of Russia’s air defenses designed to detect and engage fighters and missiles. It’s small. Using GPS Inertia guidance systemThe Ukrainian operator must give the drone points on the map before sending the drone.
The biggest concern for Russia is that Ukraine can manufacture these cheaply and easily. According to media reports The drone used in the Rostov attack was a model manufactured by Ukraine or available on the internet for less than $ 10,000. Airframes, engines and guidance systems are all commercially available and can be assembled without much technical expertise. The payload is probably small and the drone can’t be readjusted if the coordinates are wrong, but it costs a fraction of the American and Turkish equivalents and can cost millions of dollars if it hits or ignites a fuel tank. To docked naval vessels that may cause damage. Depending on the final unit price, Ukrainian drones could probably be cheaper than the missiles Russia uses to shoot them down.
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In Ukraine, long-range Kamikaze drones fill the capacity gap. Ukraine needs to use one of the few remaining ballistic missiles or endanger a $ 1 million drone like the TB2 Bilactal and do the same level of damage from the front line.President Joe Biden is famous Silent About providing Ukraine with missiles that can attack Russian territory from fear of escalation.America Have Provided MQ-1C Gray Eagle Drone, but Ukrainian authorities reported tension About accepting such well-known weapons because they could be shot down quickly if used near the front line.
Ukraine was not the first actor to use a Kamikaze drone to extort more powerful forces.Iran-backed Houthi have been successfully used in Yemen resemble Types of drones for years. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have more advanced air defense systems than Russia, covering smaller fronts, but that doesn’t seem to be enough. 2019 single attack Saudi Arabia’s oil production has been cut in half overnight at a kamikaze drone oil processing facility in Saudi Arabia.Houthi also tried RAM At one point, the Patriot radar would have lost sight of the entire battery.Restricting the use of drones is of great concern to the Gulf countries Reportedly A major issue in ongoing peace talks between Saudi Arabia and the Houthi.
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Prospects for forced drone wars like Yemen I’m annoying Moscow. If Ukraine begins to buy or produce large quantities of Kamikaze drones, Kieu will launch dozens of attacks on military targets against Russia-occupied Ukraine as a whole, and Russia itself, without outside assistance. can do. With modern commercial satellite technology, if Ukraine chooses to escalate, Russian ports, power plants, or supply bases in vast radii are potential targets. Faced with this threat, Putin needs to decide whether to keep air defense at the forefront to support military operations or to bring back some air defense systems to protect sensitive areas in western Russia. Even if they do the latter, drones are so cheap that Kieu can send their flock to overwhelm Russia’s air defense.
At this point, the Kamikaze corps is causing headaches in Russia and Saudi Arabia, but US and European policymakers need to be careful as well. Given their ease of generation and the extent of the damage they caused, it may not take so long to see all the irregular conflicts build their own rudimentary drone fleet on the vulnerable side. Hmm.
For some, the future of the drone war isn’t a sophisticated array of networked drones that receive instructions from artificial intelligence, but a series of cheap Hale Mary who need to be lucky only once.
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