June 1, 2025 - Russian Airfields FPV Takedown

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yasotay

yasotay

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According to multiple "X" reports the UKR SBU has attacked a number of RUS airfield across the nation using truck launched FPV.

The implications are staggering.

Those responsible for airfield and other critical infrastructure around the world are likely pulling out the liquor already.
 
Yep, red that too and it completely blew my mind. That drone warfare is becoming scarier with each passing day, just like A.I VEO 3 by Google (for example). The combination of these two will be devastating, well it probably is already.

It seems the ukrainians have scored quite a blow against the russian bomber fleet. I'm still waiting confirmation from respectable medias, however.

Let's hope that thread won't end like those Tu-95s, by the usual suspects... in a smoldering ball of fire. I'm not holding my breath.
 
Looks like Hardened Aircraft Shelters will have to make a come back. They might not be able to keep out cruise missiles with BROACH or MEPHISTO warheads, or modern guided bunker busters, but they will protect your strategic and/or tactical airpower from FPVs.

Edit: Apparently I predicted something like this a while ago, however I never expected the Ukrainians to so thoroughly penetrate Russian security to the point that they were able to carry this out at scale:

A Tentative Fleet Plan said:
A special operations team might cause some damage to RAF aircraft with FPV drones for example, the solution to this is fairly simple, just build more Hardened Aircraft Shelters, especially given how comparatively cheap they are to the aircraft they protect, or alternatively they might try to fly an FPV into the Sampson Radar of a Type 45 whilst it's tied up in harbour (will need active defenses, either soft-kill and/or hard-kill for this)
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A Tentative Fleet Plan said:
Looks like Hardened Aircraft Shelters will have to make a come back. They might not be able to keep out cruise missiles with BROACH or MEPHISTO warheads, or modern guided bunker busters, but they will protect your strategic and/or tactical airpower from FPVs.
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Hardened shelter for strategic bomber fleet is a project approaching Atlantic penals in size. Large planes, very large structures, considering need for reinforcement at this overhang.
No choice, but will cost a buck. Will also require some engineering as to not affect emergency takeoff time.
 
Ainen said:
Hardened shelter for strategic bomber fleet is a project approaching Atlantic penals in size. Large planes, very large structures, considering need for reinforcement at this overhang.
No choice, but will cost a buck. Will also require some engineering as to not affect emergency takeoff time.
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Considering that current prices for a single strategic bomber are in the range of hundred of millions, or even >1Bn in case of B-2, it's still much cheaper choice. Hell, against these drones even your usual hangar with metallic nets would suffice - as it would act as warhead initiator/ablative.

yasotay said:
Those responsible for airfield and other critical infrastructure around the world are likely pulling out the liquor already.
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Yep, and it's not just a *Russian* problem. US strategic bombers are also in the open.
 
Anduriel said:
Considering that current prices for a single strategic bomber are in the range of hundred of millions, or even >1Bn in case of B-2, it's still much cheaper choice. Hell, against these drones even your usual hangar with metallic nets would suffice - as it would act as warhead initiator/ablative.
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Yep, no choice here.

Though gotta say we're now in a bad moment in any case - strategic airfields were always bare open targets, just no one dared, as there is a very obvious risk of maximum retaliation behind.
 
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cgrg7kelk45t?at_format=link&at_bbc_team=editorial
That attack is getting weirder and weirder with each passing hour. I thought Ukrainian special forces had deployed drones from trucks picnic style - on roads near the bases. But now there is talk of containers stuffed with autonomous drones and dispersed, classic logistics style, on trucks here and there - near the bases. With the drones taking off from the containers like swarms of venomous bees - the Joker would love that crazy trick. :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:
 
A shelter only works when there is a disciplined guard-system to support it. There can be no open gates when it is warm, there can be no open doors, because it is convenient and easier to get in. Everyone has to be sober and no-one being distracted.. Russians are not really good at discipline right now..
Also it is quite easy to defeat a hardened shelter. For example netting can be defeated by using phosphor grenades that burn away any netting, or burn a just big enough hole to let another drone in. The same thing with doors, windows or vents. You need one drone to blow up the obstacle, and the rest of them can pass.
Once inside any blast will do more damage then it would do in the open air. Make an attack going from repearable-ish to trashed.
The only way to get past it is a series of locks in a mountain with extremely tight security. Barely doable with fighters, a nightmare for a bomber... But even that doesn't get a plane save in the air...
 
Good thing we've let China buy land near US military bases. What could possibly go wrong? Hell, they don't even NEED to own land near the bases. You could pull up just outside the base wire and let 'em fly. Control them from somewhere else. I'm surprised nobody seems to have considered using cell service to control them.
 
Sferrin said:
Good thing we've let China buy land near US military bases. What could possibly go wrong? Hell, they don't even NEED to own land near the bases. You could pull up just outside the base wire and let 'em fly. Control them from somewhere else. I'm surprised nobody seems to have considered using cell service to control them.
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You don't even have to be close. Modern FPVs are 10-20km range.
 
More reason to pursue DEW AD systems coupled with low altitude surveillance radars. Many reports and researches did so before, and I think those observations still apply, that the current war in Ukraine and Russia is rather unique in its nature, right at the cusp of advent of operational HEL weapons. Had there been say, a couple of M-Shorad Inc.2 or other kind of HEL systems fielded on the airfield, the attack would have been much less devastating,
 
The more interesting thing to me here is where from and how we're the drones controlled?

It doesnt look like this is some kind of autonomous swarming attack since there's clearly people operating the drones.

If drone operators had to be somewhat close to conduct this attack, then the threat is at least somewhat manageable, but if they can be operated from far enough away or if they are completely autonomous, im not sure how anyone can stop drone swarms from getting through. You can jam the radio controls, you can jam communications between FPVs in a swarm, but I dont know enough to know whether you can disable internal IR sensors. I guess you could use a strong enough microwave system?

Drone packed ballistic missiles, drones packed drone motherships, USVs releasing drone swarms - the more you think about it the more unsettling it becomes.

Another thought that comes to mind is how that agile combat deployment idea is going to get executed in context of these drones. Will those bases include mobile bases? If they are mobile, how long will it take to stand one up and tear one down so planes can get in, re-arm and get out? How much AA would you commit to defending base like that? If mobile bases are practical at all, that might be the best defense.
 
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Maro.Kyo said:
More reason to pursue DEW AD systems coupled with low altitude surveillance radars. Many reports and researches did so before, and I think those observations still apply, that the current war in Ukraine and Russia is rather unique in its nature, right at the cusp of advent of operational HEL weapons. Had there been say, a couple of M-Shorad Inc.2 or other kind of HEL systems fielded on the airfield, the attack would have been much less devastating,
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Yes. And Russians actually have them, both of their own production and Chinese ones, video of the latter's work was shown recently.
 
How many did they have operational (as of 2025) to begin with?
 
Not the Sunday morning breakfast I was expecting. I'm predicting greatly accelerated development of laser defenses coming out of this, on top of the hardened shelters for strategic objects already elaborated on here.
jeffb said:
A modern day Taranto.
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Mixed with the classic Trojan Horse strategem.
 
jeffb said:
A modern day Taranto.
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Any Air Force Chief that isn't spending the day demanding a crash shelter-construction program ought to be fired on the spot.

This is a major coup for Ukraine and as clear a warning as anyone could have for every other military: drone sabotage has eliminated any safe space anywhere.
 
The problem with countering this mode of attack is the sheer number of targets it could be deployed against. And it's not just top-end military targets like Long Range Aviation, airfields, but anything in the logistics chain that's vulnerable to attack (Ukraine also seems to have dropped a couple of bridges onto Russian train tracks overnight). You can probably protect major military bases with SAMs or HPMs, but even that's a large investment in defensive infrastructure that will probably have leaks that can be exploited or created - for instance HPM defences could be taken out with ATGMs, or EM-hardened, AI-targeted drones, or even just an anti-material rifle from a kilometre away, opening up a hole for FPV drones to attack. Or you can just harden everything.

Large aircraft like those of Long Range Aviation are going to be particularly difficult to protect as operations are built around the flightline. If that has to change to in-hangar work, do they even have enough hangars to fit the entire fleet in at once?

Meanwhile I'd assume political and military cartoonists worldwide are busy drawing pictures of Bears fitted with cope-cages ;)
 
Anduriel said:
Considering that current prices for a single strategic bomber are in the range of hundred of millions, or even >1Bn in case of B-2, it's still much cheaper choice. Hell, against these drones even your usual hangar with metallic nets would suffice - as it would act as warhead initiator/ablative.


Yep, and it's not just a *Russian* problem. US strategic bombers are also in the open.
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Until relatively recently, MOST US-based military aircraft were in the open. Hill AFB used to have a squadron of F-16s out in the open within shooting range of busy road with nothing but chain-link between them. Always thought that was begging for trouble.
 
DrRansom said:
Any Air Force Chief that isn't spending the day demanding a crash shelter-construction program ought to be fired on the spot.

This is a major coup for Ukraine and as clear a warning as anyone could have for every other military: drone sabotage has eliminated any safe space anywhere.
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Good luck doing that in China.
 
Reddington777 said:
Drone packed ballistic missiles
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We had that/sub munition suitable for such use for a very long time already. SADARM, C-DEAM/SMArt, BONUS, BAT, etc. Ain't nothing new.

Anduriel said:
Yes. And Russians actually have them, both of their own production and Chinese ones, video of the latter's work was shown recently.
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And yes, no use if those things are not fielded in numbers and actually are on those airfields, not some proving ground some few hundreds or thousands of kilometers away, duh.

DWG said:
for instance HPM defences could be taken out with ATGMs, or EM-hardened, AI-targeted drones, or even just an anti-material rifle from a kilometre away, opening up a hole for FPV drones to attack. Or you can just harden everything.
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Or.... we could just shoot those ATGMs or anti-material rifles directly at the aircrafts, rather than DEW at that point. You know, protecting airfields from enemy specops infiltrating beyond the front line has been a decade-old practice.
 
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Would hardened shelters really be needed to counter the small drone threat? Across Ukrainian battlefields (some) strategic roads for supply routes are already protected by nets on all sides. I speculate it's only a matter of time before specialized nets designed to prevent drones from burning through are developed...
 
leiter said:
Would hardened shelters really be needed to counter the small drone threat? Across Ukrainian battlefields (some) strategic roads for supply routes are already protected by nets on all sides. I speculate it's only a matter of time before specialized nets designed to prevent drones from burning through are developed...
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Like those "dragon" ukrainian drones raining thermite... go find a net that can withstand thermite crazy burning temperatures.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_drone
 
Maro.Kyo said:
Or.... we could just shoot those ATGMs or anti-material rifles directly at the aircrafts, rather than DEW at that point. You know, protecting airfields from enemy specops infiltrating beyond the front line has been a decade-old practice.
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Fair point, but it's a question of exposure and the number of personnel you have to infiltrate. One man can potentially pop a hole in the defences and exfiltrate while a swarm of autonomous drones* causes havoc behind him. But if you want to take out the targets directly, then the havoc only lasts as long as your team remains on site and can only affect the targets they can see. Pairing air defence neutralization with a drone swarm opens up the whole local area to attack.

* I expect to see FPV drones increasingly replaced by autonomous designs that aren't dependent on a control link.
 
Ukrainian images showing the preparations made for the attack. I wonder why the container structures are wooden, maybe to aid with self-destruction.
 

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