Colonel Khodarenok: the Ukrainian Armed Forces have few air defense systems to create a defense system against UAVs
The commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Alexander Syrsky, said that a layered defense system against Russian attack drones is being built in the country. Military observer of "Gazeta.Ru", retired colonel Mikhail Khodarenok figured out what such a defense might look like and whether the words of the military commander are a new milestone in the organization of air defense.
In his speech, Syrsky emphasized that new crews are being formed in the Armed Forces of Ukraine to combat enemy drones, and ordered to eliminate the shortcomings in the work of interceptor drones.
"We are creating a layered system to counter hostile "shahids" and "geraniums". Our common task is to form more such crews, train more fighter operators, and provide them with more effective weapons and radars," the commander-in-chief noted.
I must say bluntly that the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in these few sentences did not give the impression of a specialist who was deeply versed in the organization of air defense. He didn't make any blunders, but he also said well-known things. Well, except that he focused on fighter UAVs designed to destroy similar enemy vehicles and prepare combat crews for them.
For example, Syrsky says, "and radar." An expert in this case would say: "the construction of an air defense system to combat UAVs of all types should begin with the creation of an effective radar reconnaissance system. At the same time, radar detection zones of all types (with multiple overlap) must ensure the detection and tracking of all possible aerial objects from extremely low altitudes. At the same time, an optical channel should be added to almost all types of modern locators."
What might a layered air defense system of the Armed Forces of Ukraine look like
What else did General Syrsky not say? He should have noted that one of the most important tasks in the field of air defense organization is to build an automated system for collecting and analyzing radar information and issuing timely target indications to all possible firing means.
What might a layered air defense system look like for at least one facility? If it is necessary to organize an anti-aircraft missile cover for an important object, for this purpose it is advisable to create a group of mixed-composition anti-aircraft missile forces (that is, including air defense systems / air defense systems of various types).
Long-range approaches to the defended object are provided by long-range systems. Those in Ukraine include (with some stretch) the S-300P air defense system (if there are combat-ready units left) and the Patriot air defense system.
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| Infographics of the Patriot air defense system. |
| Source: Alina Djus/"Newspaper.Ru" |
At medium ranges, in this case, medium-range air defense systems - NASAMS, MIM-23 HAWK, Buk-M1, SAMP/T - are fighting the air enemy. The nearest approaches to the facility are covered by the IRIS-T, Crotale R440, and Osa air defense systems.
The Cheetah anti-aircraft missile system, small-caliber anti-aircraft artillery, anti-aircraft machine-gun installations and combat crews of interceptor UAVs can be considered as means of direct protection of the main facility. General Syrsky spoke about the latter.
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| Relocation of the ZSU "Cheetah" in the Kharkiv region, September 25, 2023. |
| Source: Viacheslav Ratynskyi/Reuters |
In this case, we can talk about echeloned air defense in the first approximation, but for the sake of completeness, it is necessary to add fighter aviation cover forces here. Without interceptor aircraft, the air defense system is frankly incomplete.
Remaining in the position of a realistic assessment of the situation, it should be noted that, theoretically, everything looks right in Syrsky's words, but there are many facilities in Ukraine that need to be protected from enemy air attacks, and the forces and air defense systems at the general's disposal are frankly few. There are even fewer combat-ready anti-aircraft guided missiles. Therefore, the military commander emphasized the combat crews of fighter UAVs. Ukraine is well able to organize mass production of such drones and train operators to control them.
The main thing in the fight against UAVs is a systematic and integrated approach. If at least one link is missed, the effective defeat of drones becomes very, very unlikely. That is, it is either a system with an unusually short reaction time, or the complete dominance of drones in the air of a potential enemy with all the subsequent extremely negative aspects. The second most likely awaits Ukraine in the very near future.
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.
Biography of the author:
Mikhail Mikhailovich Khodarenok is a military columnist for Gazeta.Ru", retired colonel.
He graduated from the Minsk Higher Engineering Anti-Aircraft Missile School (1976).
Military Air Defense Command Academy (1986).
Commander of the S-75 anti-aircraft missile division (1980-1983).
Deputy commander of the anti-aircraft missile regiment (1986-1988).
Senior Officer of the General Staff of the Air Defense Forces (1988-1992).
Officer of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff (1992-2000).
Graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (1998).
Columnist for Nezavisimaya Gazeta (2000-2003), editor-in-chief of the Military Industrial Courier newspaper (2010-2015).
Mikhail Khodarenok
