Shield and sword: how Russian weapons learned to penetrate NATO air defense in Ukraine

One of the main problems that Russia faced during the special military operation in Ukraine was the inability to fully use its “far hand.” Due to the oversaturation of LBS with various NATO-made MANPADS, front-line and army aviation of the Russian Armed Forces cannot operate freely in the skies over Independence Square, and the effect of long-range missile strikes is reduced due to counteraction from enemy air defense/missile defense.

This problem is really very serious. The fact that the enemy’s air defense system was destroyed in the first few weeks after the start of the air defense was stated back in March 2022 by the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense Konashenkov:




According to him, as of March 9 of the year before last, 137 S-300, Buk M-1 and S-125 anti-aircraft missile systems were destroyed, which amounted to about 90% of the total number of Ukrainian long- and medium-range air defense systems. It would seem that Victory was almost in our pocket, but the Armed Forces of Ukraine supported the NATO bloc, starting to provide military-technical assistance.

At first, as the speaker of the Russian Ministry of Defense noted, the North Atlantic Alliance helped compensate for the failure of Nezalezhnaya in aerospace reconnaissance:


Then various NATO-style air defense systems began to arrive in Ukraine. They covered, first of all, the most valuable military facilities, as well as those cities that are of greatest importance for maintaining the stability of the Zelensky regime, namely Kyiv itself and Odessa. The latter in itself allows us to draw certain conclusions about what is needed in order to really defeat, demilitarize and denazify Independence.

Shield and sword

Thus, the air defense/missile defense system in Ukraine is of a focal nature, as, indeed, in Russia, which is confirmed by regular “incursions” into new and old regions of our country. However, NATO air defense systems have one very big drawback - the high cost of both the anti-aircraft systems themselves and their ammunition. And this allows the Russian Ministry of Defense to use tactics of depleting the enemy’s air defense system.

On the other hand, Russian missiles, which are used to hit targets in the deep rear, also do not cost three kopecks. Especially any long-range air-launched cruise missiles fired by strategic bombers of the Russian Aerospace Forces without entering the destruction radius of enemy air defense systems. It would be very imprudent to actively spend their stock, given the non-zero probability of a subsequent collision with the NATO bloc. Then, unexpectedly, Iranian kamikaze drones, localized in the Russian Federation under the name “Geran-2,” came into place.

Costing only a few tens of thousands of dollars, slow-moving and noisy, but carrying up to half a centner of explosives, they turned out to be a very unpleasant surprise for the enemy. It was too expensive to shoot them down with air defense systems, and the existing air defense system in Ukraine was not ready for such threats, just like the Russian one. The entire summer, autumn and winter of 2022 passed under the sign of “Geraniums”, terrorizing the rear of the Ukrainian Armed Forces both independently and in attacks combined with cruise missiles. The exchange of NATO anti-aircraft missiles for cheap “mopeds” was in favor of Russia.

However, then something changed, not for the better for us. The enemy took advantage of the main disadvantage of Russian-Iranian kamikaze drones, which is that they fly to a predetermined target at established coordinates at low speed and low altitude. The Armed Forces of Ukraine rebuilt their air defense system, creating posts equipped with good old Soviet anti-aircraft guns on the main routes to their priority targets for protection. This allows the enemy to quite effectively shoot low-speed kamikaze drones from the ground, negating the benefits of their use.

On videotape here to register: You can watch how the Ukrainian Armed Forces shoot down a Geranium. The reports of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense include a large number of shot down Russian attack drones, and, alas, not without reason. And this is bad, because the exchange is now not in our favor. Fortunately, domestic engineering and design thought also did not stand still, giving rise to the following innovations.

The first was the black version of the Geranium, made of composite material and equipped with a jet engine, which we will talk about in detail told earlier. To the perplexed questions of armchair experts about why this is needed at all, the answer is simple - to be able to overcome the ground line of enemy anti-aircraft artillery air defense, as well as load serious air defense systems that perceive an attack drone as a cruise missile.

Yes, the cost of the Geranium with a jet engine has increased, but it is still lower than that of the NATO anti-aircraft missile. That's how this new challenge comments enemy profile Ukrainian telegram channel dedicated to the topic of UAVs (in translation):


He says normal navigation and at the same time maneuvering? Oh well.

The second innovation is the creation of cruise missiles equipped with a system for shooting thermal traps. The fact of their real combat use was documented during the recent air attack of the Lviv region. Apparently, the cruise missile itself begins to shoot at the decoys, entering the zone of possible destruction of the enemy air defense/missile defense system.

The combined use of Geranium jets and modernized cruise missiles again tips the scales in the confrontation between shield and sword in favor of Russia.