They fly slowly and whirring to their destination, then the explosion follows: Iranian kamikaze drones scare the Ukrainian population. With little progress on the front, Putin’s forces are attacking civilian infrastructure from the air. The goal: to plunge Ukraine into a cold, dark winter.
Many drones can be shot down by anti-aircraft systems. But the flying killers often come in swarms. And so enough get through to attack Ukraine.
The problem: The Russians apparently have a lot of drones. “They are so cheap to produce and buy that Ukraine’s defense is oversaturated with too many attackers,” Gustav Gressel, 43, military expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), told Mirror.
In winter the destroyed infrastructure will be a big problem
According to the British secret service, Ukraine can now repel almost 85 percent of drone attacks. That sounds like a lot at first. But the other 15 percent do massive damage. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, 44, has admitted that 40 percent of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has already been destroyed by the attacks. He called on the population to save energy.
According to Gressel, Ukraine must ensure that it protects the airspace of major cities with important infrastructure across the board. At present, the Ukrainian Armed Forces relies mainly on patrol jets and surface-to-air missiles.
But the costs are out of balance. “Each stinger fired at such a drone is worth five to ten times as much as the drone itself,” said the military expert. Specifically, a rocket costs about $250,000. In addition, soldiers have to operate these expensive defense systems and are then absent from the front.
Use of microwave radiation is being tested
An easy way to get rid of the drones is to shoot them down with guns at low altitudes. Not an easy task as the drones move in the air. This is ultimately the cheapest option. However, when a swarm of kamikaze drones arrives, the soldiers have to fire wildly into the air. This can be dangerous: the falling bullets can injure or even kill civilians.
A solution could be the use of microwave radiation. If powerful microwave beams are aimed at the drones, the electronics immediately fail. An Iranian drone would get lost and miss the target. But: The irradiation systems are not yet ready for use. Testing has yet to be performed.
In the long term, western Ukraine will be able to help and provide additional air defense systems. For example, the Vehicle-Agnostic Modular Palletized ISR Rocket Equipment drone defense system from America, anti-drone guns from Germany and Crotale systems from France. According to Gressel, the systems are efficient in defense against the drones. The problem: The Ukrainian soldiers must first learn how to use the weapons – and that takes time. (jwg)