Ukrainian drones are putting pressure on Russian air defense, the occupiers have launched mobile groups, - ISW
Date: 2024-07-17 Author: Кирило Загоруйко Categories: WAR
Russian governors have publicly acknowledged that regions cannot rely on Russian air defense, but must counteract Ukrainian drones themselves.
According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), attacks by Ukrainian drones deep inside Russia continue to put pressure on Russia's air defense system and force Russian military commanders to prioritize limited air defense assets to cover what they consider important targets.
Satellite images from May 6 show at least seven Pantsir-1 medium-range surface-to-air missile systems protecting the residence of Russian ruler Vladimir Putin in Valdai.
The head of the Moscow Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies and a member of the civilian advisory council at the Russian Ministry of Defense, Ruslan Pukhov, said on July 16 that such “focal” air defense coverage does not make sense in scale, since it allows Ukrainian drones to bypass Russian air defense coverage and strike from unprotected directions .
Analysts note that the Russians apparently do not have enough air defense systems to protect all critical facilities in the west of the country. Pukhov called on the Russian military to implement an innovative, decentralized approach to protecting Russian installations from Ukrainian drones and warned that Ukrainian drones were likely to penetrate deep into the Russian Federation.
Against the background of problems with air defense, the occupiers began to form mobile fire groups, which Ukraine successfully deployed to protect against attacks by Russian Shahed-136/131 drones. However, the Russian Federation has not yet deployed these groups on the required scale to sufficiently protect critical facilities in the west.
“The constant pressure on Russia's air defense system has led to individual regional authorities expressly stating that Russian companies and local governments cannot rely on Russian federal air defense and must provide their own counter-drone capabilities,” ISW writes.
Pukhov proposed that the Russian military deploy a fleet of light aircraft to intercept Ukrainian drones. However, these efforts will be complicated by the low level of production of light aircraft in Russia.
