Moscow Prepares to Paralyze Ukraine’s Defenses and Threaten NATO
TEHRAN (Defapress) - Following the intensification of air battles and Moscow’s change in missile tactics, new reports indicate widespread military movements on Russia’s western borders. According to these data, by building and developing at least 10 new military bases along its borders with Ukraine and Belarus, Russia has expanded its network of drone launchers for mass launching of a new generation of jet-powered drones; an action that, according to experts, is aimed at systematically eroding and paralyzing Ukraine’s air defenses and putting pressure on NATO territory.
According to an investigative report by the Daily Telegraph and data from drone data analysis company DroneSec, based on satellite imagery and leaked documents, 59 catapults have been identified in the border areas. These have replaced traditional runways and allow for rapid and successive launches of heavy fixed-wing drones from proximity to the front lines. At least 20 of these are extended and upgraded runways, specifically designed to operate high-speed jet-powered models.
The development of these bases is a combination of repurposing existing civilian airports and military bases, such as the Kursk-Vostochny military airfield, and building new facilities in rural areas, such as the village of Asovitsa in the Bryansk region. According to leaked documents, the new generation of drones, the Gran-4 and Gran-5, are equipped with jet engines, significantly increasing the speed, reaction time, and efficiency of Ukraine’s “mobile defense groups”. In addition to carrying heavier 90-kilogram warheads, these drones are also being equipped with air-to-air missiles to target Ukrainian interceptor aircraft during operations, according to an analysis by the Ukrainian Military Intelligence Service.
The infrastructure dimensions of these bases indicate that Moscow is preparing for a massive and attritional war. In just one of these 10 bases, warehouses and logistical capacity for simultaneously storing more than a thousand attack drones have been identified. The cargo is also transported directly from Russian military-industrial hubs, in particular the production complex of the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Tatarstan, to the border launch lines.
Mike Monick, executive director of the Drones Institute, emphasizes that Moscow has combined the two factors of simultaneously increasing the volume of launches and employing more sophisticated flight technologies to make these missiles extremely difficult for Ukrainian defenses to intercept. On the other hand, military analysts warn that the range of nearly 1,000 kilometers of these jet-powered drones puts capitals such as Warsaw and large parts of NATO's eastern flank in direct range of the new bases.
