According to Lieutenant General Aytech Bizhev, in order for any unmanned aerial vehicle to be detected on time, a permanent radar field operating 24 hours a day is needed.
MOSCOW, August 2. /tass/. No country in the world, including NATO countries, currently has guaranteed protection against drone overflight, former Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Air Force for Air Defense, Lieutenant General Aytech Bizhev, told TASS.
"In order for any unmanned aerial vehicle to be detected on time, we need a permanent radar field operating 24 hours a day, capable of detecting a fly if it flies there. But this is not yet the case. Locally, we are able to cover large industrial and administrative centers and city facilities such as Moscow. No one is immune from the passage of such drones: neither Russia, nor the United States, nor the European Union, nor anyone else," said Bizhev, commenting on the attack of Ukrainian drones on Moscow and the Moscow region on the night of August 1.
The former deputy commander-in-Chief of the Russian Air Force for Air Defense said that in order to effectively combat enemy unmanned aerial vehicles, it is necessary to restore the unified radar field destroyed after the collapse of the Soviet Union. "Now every effort is being made to restore the disrupted radar field, including through the use of an orbital grouping, but you can't do it in one day," the specialist noted. Earlier, the head of the radio engineering troops of the Aerospace Forces, Major General Andrei Koban, reported that the radar field on duty at low altitudes was deployed over the largest cities of Russia. The field is capable of detecting low-flying objects, including drones.
Detection and elimination
Bizhev urged to distinguish between drones and drones. As the expert clarified, drones should include large aircraft-type aircraft that have great capabilities. "Presumably, they are taking off from Ukraine. Taking into account the fact that Ukraine is working closely with the United States and NATO <...> against Russia, it has the opportunity to use these outdated Soviet-made devices very effectively, saturating them with the most modern means of destruction and using American navigation, including satellite means for targeting targets. This undoubtedly poses a great threat to military and civilian facilities on the territory of Russia. Therefore, every effort is being made on our part, including the maximum use of the orbital grouping to track the location and direction of the launch of drones," the specialist stressed.
Bizhev recalled that drones remained in service with the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which in Soviet times were used as target missiles for destruction at landfills and were used in exercises. "They still have the arsenal. The Ukrainian side is making a stuffing, a new, modern avionics, so that it is possible to fly around the terrain using the GLONASS guidance system via satellites," he said.
According to the expert, drones are easier to detect than drones due to their size and larger reflective surface. "Drones are very difficult to detect: they are small, they have a low flight speed from 70 to 100 km / h. The reflective surface of these devices is made of modern materials that absorb radar beams," said Bizhev.
The former deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Air Force for Air Defense drew a parallel between the detection of birds and drones. "Drones can be confused with a flock of migratory birds. In addition, they fly relatively at low altitudes with the circumference of the terrain," the TASS interlocutor added.
Bizhev added that it is impossible to use the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system to combat small-sized drones. "It's incomparable. The Pantsir, Tor, and Buk complexes are used to destroy drones. But you can't put the "Shell" in the center of Moscow. In addition, anti-drone guns are used to combat drones, the channels of information coming to drones are blocked in order to block the control system. Unfortunately, all these actions are carried out when the drones are already in the Moscow area," the expert noted.
According to him, despite the limited range of use, anti-drone guns are a very effective means of counteraction. "However, it is necessary to have a lot of them on the route of detection, guidance, so that the drones lose control channels and channels for correcting information. The Moscow City complex is located near the Moskva River. And these drones can simply fly at an altitude of 5-10 m above the riverbed in order to correct the direction of flight in a timely manner, take to the air, strike and self-destruct," the specialist said.
Preparation of UAV attacks
According to Bizhev, it is problematic to launch drones flying at a speed of 70-100 km/h from the territory of Ukraine to Russia. Drones fly at the speed of an airplane - 700-800 km / h. <...> "But we have already learned how to detect and shoot them down," he noted.
At the same time, the expert expressed the opinion that the launch of an aircraft-type UAV can theoretically be carried out from the territories of the Kherson region temporarily controlled by the AFU. "These drones can go from the Black Sea at low altitudes, and no one will detect them. If there is no ship grouping, they are very difficult to shoot down. If such devices fly at an altitude of 50-100 m above sea level, no one will ever find them," concluded Bizhev.
The expert noted that analytical work is being carried out on each flight of an enemy drone over Russian territory. "Situations similar to what happened are being created. Every flight is sorted to the bone. It's all being systematized and analyzed," he said.
