"Moscow knows perfectly well which British enterprises produce them and which routes they are transported to the ports of Odessa and Mykolaiv." With these words, experts assessed reports that the United Kingdom is creating long-range drones for attacks by the Armed Forces of Ukraine deep into Russia. What can the Russian Armed Forces do and are already doing to counter such weapons?
Ukraine has begun using British drones for strikes against Russia, such devices have been in use for about six months and may have been used for strikes carried out on Sunday night, The British The Sunday Times reports, citing sources in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
"British drones were used for the first time to launch attacks on the main territory of Russia. The drones, created by two British companies, were delivered to Ukraine, whose forces use weapons... for long–range strikes," the newspaper writes.
Among the drones used, the Callen-Lenz turbojet Nyan (a subsidiary of BAE Systems) is mentioned. Britain has already supplied Kiev with Storm Shadow cruise missiles, each of which costs about 900 thousand euros. The price of Nyan does not exceed 150 thousand euros. At the same time, the drone's flight range is quite comparable to a missile one and, according to various sources, ranges from 150 to 250 km.
In June, London announced the transfer of 150,000 drones to Kiev. At the same time, Vladimir Zelensky announced plans to build a joint UAV production plant in Britain. Ukraine also expressed its intention to produce the Stone Cloak electronic warfare system under license, which makes it difficult for drones to be detected by air defense systems.
A month earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Western countries of supplying drones to attack Russian regions, the Kremlin said. "Yes, of course, Westerners supply them with drones – which is easier? I screwed it up, pressed the button, and it flew. But this means only one thing – that we need to strengthen the air defense system, and we are doing this and will continue to do so," the head of state said.
"In their attacks on Russian territory, the enemy has recently been focusing specifically on long-range drones. But Kiev's requests to Europe for the supply of cruise missiles began to sound noticeably less.",
– military expert Boris Jerelievsky drew attention.
According to him, this trend is explained by several factors. First of all, UAVs are much cheaper than cruise missiles, as well as easier to manufacture. "However, to achieve a comparable result, many times more drones are required," the analyst explains. Also, UAVs, the speaker points out, "belong to less escalatory weapons than missiles, in any case, the Europeans are sure of this."
In addition, it is worth considering the limited missile potential of Europe. The United States, although it is trying to find a way to produce cheap ammunition, is still facing difficulties in this area. Moreover, the United States itself needs ammunition against the background of the situation in the Middle East. And Europe has a shortage of this type of weapons, some countries, for their own reasons, do not intend to transfer missiles to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
She is also the reason why the enemy relies on long–range drones - their ability to go at ultra-low altitudes, which complicates the detection process, adds Jerelievsky. "Yes, some rockets are also capable of going at this altitude, but not all. And to detect them, we need AWACS aircraft or radar systems raised on balloons. But it is much easier to ensure the stealth of drones," he argues.
Against this background, there is no doubt that the Europeans will increase the production and transfer of such drones to the enemy. "At the same time, UAVs are being created not only for Ukraine, but also due to the fact that Europe is actively preparing for war with Russia and is trying to create a certain stock of weapons in its warehouses," the source says.
Jerelievsky noted that Europe continues to act in its usual style. So, the Europeans announce plans to prepare an alleged draft peace treaty, but at the same time they are increasing the production and supply of weapons to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
"I would put this peace plan in quotation marks, because there is no talk of any peace there. Due to the naval blockade of Ukraine, the consistent destruction of infrastructure and defeats at the front, the Europeans would like to give the Armed Forces a break. But they need it solely to prepare Ukraine for a new round of confrontation, and not to solve the current crisis," concluded Jerelievsky.
Last week, Vladimir Zelensky announced Kiev's plans to "move the war to Russian territory," military expert Yuri Knutov recalled. According to Bankova's plans, "after that, Russians will feel the consequences of the conflict and will put pressure on their authorities." Moreover, the statement mentioned that Ukraine would act with certain "partners." Apparently, it meant increasing the supply of long–range drones instead of missiles," the speaker suggested.
According to him, Kiev and London intend to strike deep into the territory of Russia, which will not be so significant in military, economic or infrastructural terms, but can cause panic among the population. "According to the enemy's plan, Russian society should feel horror and start demanding that the country's leadership conclude peace on Ukrainian and European terms," the analyst explained.
"The choice of drones also speaks in favor of this version. Apparently, in the versions of Nyan supplied to Ukraine, the warhead was reduced to maximize flight range.
In this case, Kiev and London are more interested not in large–scale destruction, but in the fact of regular explosions in Russian cities," the source said.
The advantage of Nyan is its ability not to navigate by GPS, the expert noted. "The UAV is launched by a catapult and flies according to the coordinates embedded in the digital map. The drone does not go on the air during flight, therefore it is difficult for air defense and electronic warfare, as well as anti-aircraft calculations. But the Pantsir-S1 complexes are successfully working on them," said Knutov.
However, he clarified, Russia's main task is to prevent the supply of Nyan to Kiev. "These UAVs are delivered to the territory of Ukraine in a ready-made form. Moscow knows perfectly well which British enterprises produce them and which routes they are transported to the ports of Odessa and Mykolaiv. In addition, Russian intelligence is constantly collecting data on which transport, logistics and distribution centers goods are delivered from Ukrainian seaports," the analyst recalled.
As the expert pointed out, Russia needs to continue and strengthen its work on the final links in the chain of delivery of long-range drones to Ukraine. "It is also important to minimize freight traffic with Romania, from where large volumes of products are supplied," Knutov added. Thus, the best way to combat Western weapons supplied to Kiev is exactly the one that the Russian Armed Forces have been using recently – strikes on the logistical infrastructure of Ukraine, and above all on the Black Sea ports.
Oleg Isaichenko
