They will be armed with MANPADS, machine guns and electronic warfare, experts say.
Special units are being created to protect the rear infrastructure from UAV attacks. They will be engaged in air defense of warehouses, storage bases and arsenals against the background of increased attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on such facilities. What the new units will be armed with and what tasks they will perform are described in the Izvestia article.
Special forces to combat UAVs
Special units are being created in the Russian Armed Forces to combat UAVs that will protect warehouses, storage bases and arsenals, military sources told Izvestia.
Currently, air defense officers are determining the number of observation points and firing points. And representatives of logistics are working on logistical issues, from uniform uniforms to special weapons to combat drones, the interlocutors of the publication noted.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Pavel Volkov
Image source: iz.ru
The armed forces of the Russian Federation could quickly create such units, said military expert Dmitry Kornev.
"They could be distributed across drone—prone regions," he clarified. — Now our targets are attacked, as a rule, by UAVs of the type "Fierce" and "Beaver". These are low-flying vehicles that can be destroyed by any means of air defense of infantry units. Including individual weapons, MANPADS, machine guns, submachine guns and similar fire weapons. They should also be equipped with electronic jamming, combat and reconnaissance systems. Then the probability that the drone will not fly into the territory of the facility will be significantly increased.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Astrakhan
Image source: iz.ru
According to the expert, the units can be reinforced with air defense systems.
— They should be included in the unified information and communication network of the Armed Forces and warning systems of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation. Then they will be able to share information about attacks in their sector, warn about drones flying past them, which will help repel attacks in other places, Dmitry Kornev believes.
What will the units be armed with to combat UAVs?
When moving a group of military personnel, in particular scouts or attack aircraft, there are always fighters who track drones in the sky and destroy them. Colonel Alexander Perendzhiev, an associate professor at Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, told Izvestia about this.
"The enemy has repeatedly tried to attack our facilities with the help of UAVs,— he reminded. — Therefore, such units are needed both on the front line and in the rear. And they've really been needed for a long time. Now it is important to develop a comprehensive arsenal protection system, rather than arming fighters only with anti-drone rifles. In particular, we have missiles, and there are anti-missiles that shoot them down. Here it is necessary to do the same — drones that will guard military installations, moving along a certain route, detect enemy UAVs and destroy them. Such tactics have already proved their effectiveness in the war zone.
It was necessary to create such units a long time ago, because back in 2023 it became clear that the enemy would launch drone strikes more and more often, military expert Yuri Lyamin told Izvestia.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Korotaev
Image source: iz.ru
— And during this time, the range of drones, their payload, and power have increased. They've become more dangerous," he explained. — Our arsenals and ammunition depots are one of the primary targets for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Now we need to create mobile groups that will shoot down drones with anti-aircraft guns and machine guns. They should also be equipped with thermal imagers so that even in the dark, fighters can see the drones.
The same thing works against UAVs that works against airplanes and other aircraft, the expert noted.
— It's just that you need a lot of these funds and preferably those that are cheaper. And the SAM is not enough for all objects and it is very expensive to fire missiles at all drones. In addition, the missile may also deviate from the target and there will be at least a small but unnecessary collateral damage. In an amicable way, we need to develop laser systems against drones. But for now, we are far from mass production, so we need to make do with what we have," Yuri Lyamin summed up.
Ukrainian Armed Forces attacks on Russian facilities
Every day, the Ukrainian Armed Forces use drones to attack military and civilian infrastructure facilities deep in Russia. So, on the afternoon of January 22, the enemy attacked two enterprises in the Belgorod region. Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of the region, announced this in his Telegram channel.
According to him, the FPV drone struck an enterprise located near the city of Shebekino. The roof of a warehouse and two vehicles were damaged during the attack.
Photo: IZVESTIA
Image source: iz.ru
Another drone struck an enterprise in the village of Belenke, Borisov district. As a result, the equipment was damaged.
Earlier, on January 20, the press service of the head of the Republic of Tatarstan reported that the Armed Forces of Ukraine were trying to attack industrial enterprises.
According to the official data of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, 31 drones were shot down over the territory of the country on that day.
Anti-ship protection control points
The Russian Navy is already taking measures to strengthen the protection of naval bases from aerial and naval drones.
Earlier, Izvestia wrote that the Navy is creating anti-ship protection control points. They will be used to control the repulse of attacks by air and sea drones.
The P-420 Yunarmets Primorye anti-sabotage boat of the Grachonok series after the destruction of an unmanned enemy boat as part of the Pacific Fleet exercises in Primorsky Krai.
Image source: Photo: RIA Novosti/Vitaly Ankov
Naval bases also received air surveillance points with a watch service. Twin ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft guns were installed in places with firing-friendly sectors around the perimeter of one of the Navy bases. They proved themselves well during the military special operation in the fight against UAVs.
The Navy has already conducted several exercises to repel attacks by enemy air and sea drones. They were held as part of the combat training program on anti-ship protection, which provides for the development of tasks for the destruction of unmanned boats (BEC) and UAVs.
Julia Leonova
Bogdan Stepovoy
Andrey Fedorov
