Missile and drone strikes on Ukraine may become around the clock: what dictator Putin's plan is
A military expert explains how we should destroy Russian drones.
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Putin wants to attack Ukraine around the clock / TSN.ua collage
The enemy continues to attack Ukraine with drones. Throughout September, as soon as it gets dark, alarming notifications about the start of enemy drone attacks have been coming in, lasting almost all night.
The enemy attacks various regions and cities in Ukraine or launches reconnaissance UAVs, doing so regularly.
Andriy Kovalеnко, Head of the Center for Countering Disinformation (CCD), mentions this in his social media post. He predicts that the Russians aim to establish nearly round-the-clock attack operations against Ukraine in the future, making alerts in the regions a regular occurrence. To achieve this, the enemy is increasing the production of "Shaheds" and other UAVs.
TSN.ua explored the realistic prospects for Russia to carry out air strikes on Ukraine around the clock.
Putin promises to produce 1.5 million drones
Military expert Ihor Romanenko states that everything depends on the enemy's capabilities and the availability of the necessary resources to implement a round-the-clock air attack strategy.
"Recently, Putin announced that Russia planned to produce 1.5 million drones, although it's unclear over what specific period. I remind you that we planned to produce 1 million drones. As we can see, Putin mentioned a larger figure. I think this could be implemented in some way, considering that the Russians quickly managed to shift their economy to military production. At the very least, they will move in this direction if the dictator has made such promises," a military expert, retired lieutenant general, and former deputy chief of the General Staff (2006-2010), Ihor Romanenko tells TSN.ua.
Russia wants to attack Ukraine around the clock / TSN.ua collage
Enemy attacks are now daily
The military expert notes that enemy air attacks are already occurring almost daily. For at least two consecutive weeks, enemy drones and missiles have been constantly attacking Ukraine.
"This means the enemy is already implementing the tactic of such attacks. The question is whether they can sustain this pace. I will say this: if what Putin formulated is executed - and it seems the Russians will follow through - the likelihood of this approach is very high," Ihor Romanenko emphasizes.
Air attacks may become prolonged
The expert does not rule out that similar drone attacks could continue for weeks or even months.
"Unfortunately, I do not exclude that we will soon have to prepare for the fact that "Shahed" attacks will be constant. Yes, this is very unpleasant and will disrupt all our plans, but to mitigate the severity, we need effective means to combat the enemy’s aerial assault," Ihor Romanenko notes.
One and a half million drones! Will "Shahed" strikes become more massive?
How to shoot down enemy drones?
The expert adds that to repel such attacks, Ukraine needs additional anti-aircraft missile systems, anti-aircraft artillery systems and fighter aircraft.
"On the one hand, anti-air missiles and aviation are too expensive to destroy Russian drones, but on the other, how do we shoot them down? We need modern fighters for this job. The Europeans have 50-60 F-16s ready to share, but the Americans do not allow them into Ukraine, citing a million reasons," says Ihor Romanenko.
New and versatile drones
The military expert emphasizes that while the difficult process of securing military aid continues, we need to develop our own new technologies to destroy enemy drones and missiles.
"The war itself is teaching us this. We have drones that can be used by air defense forces - this is much cheaper than using expensive missiles. They are already effectively working against the enemy's reconnaissance drones like "Orlans", "Zala" and "Supercam", destroying them. Additionally, these drones can damage enemy helicopters, but still need improvement. We need to produce enough of these drones so that they become truly effective," Ihor Romanenko explains.
The need for drone detection devices
He notes that the enemy is not sitting idly by. The Russians continue to enhance their air attack capabilities.
"The opponent has begun to deploy their strike drones at higher altitudes. This is done specifically to reduce the effectiveness of our mobile groups, as UAVs are harder to visually detect at such heights, especially at night. Additional location devices are needed, and the demand for them will only grow," the military expertstates.
Timely detection and destruction of enemy UAVs
Ihor Romanenko is convinced that for more effective combat against enemy drones, we need to receive F-16, Mirage and Gripen fighters without delay, as they can effectively shoot down the enemy’s strike drones.
"In addition to fighters, we need to build a reconnaissance system using long-range radar detection and control aircraft (AWACS) from Saab. The Swedes are transferring two such planes to us. The process of training personnel is ongoing. The presence of these aircraft will help us enhance "the effectiveness of air defense systems in combating Russian "Shaheds, as it will be much easier to destroy them in coordination with fighters," Ihor Romanenko concludes.
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