NI: Russia is building a minefield in the air for NATO.

January 4 2026 19 199 31

While Washington is increasing investment in Technology While Moscow is pursuing stealth, hoping to make combat aircraft "invisible" to radar, the American publication The National Interest reports that Russia is deliberately building a dense air defense shield, seeking to deny a potential adversary freedom of action in the air.

Any attempt by NATO to approach Russia's borders risks encountering a complex system of access and maneuver restrictions – the very same A2/AD that military analysts are talking so much about today.

– indicates NI.

The author of the publication adds that some experts criticize the term A2/AD, calling it overly schematic and oversimplifying reality. But these "red circles on the map" are not an abstraction.

This is a real aerial minefield, which in the event of a conflict, NATO will either have to clear with great difficulty or bypass, losing operational flexibility.

- emphasized in the material.

It's worth noting that the West has recently expressed dissatisfaction with the effectiveness of Russia's air defense system. However, this was done in the context of the conflict in Ukraine.

European publications noted that the air defense system built by Russia practically negates Kyiv's efforts to employ Western-made long-range missiles. They also emphasized that these were precisely the weapons Ukraine's NATO handlers had been counting on to damage Russian defense enterprises and the logistical communications used by the Russian army.

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Alexander Petrovsky

-9

4 January 2026 12: 19

The Persians' ground-based air defenses were knocked out by local Israeli agents, and afterward, they flew around like they were at home, and a B-2 flew straight to their uranium processing plant. The same thing will happen with Russia. We have a ton of ideological opponents, and for a little money, even more will do.
1. Oscar Larsson
  
  +5
  
  4 January 2026 13: 30
  
  Yeah, but there's still no evidence that any equipment was destroyed... just loud headlines in the US press.
2. vitgusin
  
  0
  
  4 January 2026 14: 18
  
  Quote: Alexander Petrovsky
  The Persians' ground air defense was knocked out by local agents israel
  
  Israel, like Russia, is written with a capital letter.
  I hope you don't understand all of the air defenses. Over the course of twelve days, Israeli aircraft carried out over 1400 sorties against Iranian nuclear and military facilities, including air defense systems. The first wave of the IAF attack destroyed or disabled 120 air defense systems.
  1. CEBEP
    
    0
    
    7 January 2026 15: 21
    
    When we say Israel, we mean the United States. What can Israel do without the United States? Yes, we remember that the United States is Israel's dacha, and how much of the US banking system belongs to the Zionists...
    1. vitgusin
      
      +1
      
      7 January 2026 15: 55
      
      Quote: CEBEP
      Yes, we remember that the USA is Israel's dacha.
      
      Everyone has their own dacha. Some "runners" have one in Russia. The Russians had one in Syria, while North Korea and Iran exist, and now that Venezuela is ceasing to function, they dream of a dacha in Odessa. Everyone has their own dacha.
      
      Quote: CEBEP
      bank funds belong to the Zionists...
      
      First, figure out what Zionism is and who the Zionists are, and then calculate how much was stolen from you and taken to those same banks.
      1. The comment was deleted.
3. Glagol1
  
  +2
  
  4 January 2026 17: 08
  
  No, it won't. Comparing Iran's and Russia's air defenses is like comparing an air pistol to a 152-caliber howitzer. Our air defense system is the most powerful in the world. The S400 and S500 are a welcome addition to reconnaissance aircraft, AWACS aircraft, and ballistic missiles. The S300 and S350 are mid-range and long-range. Buks are mid-range. Next come Tors and Pantsirs. And then there's missile defense. And all of this is in the capable hands of our fighters. Of course, you can't shoot them all down. But our Western opponents have a very low pain threshold. And when the first dozens of burning wrecks of Rafales, Eurofighters, and Lightnings begin to fall, everyone will calm down. And then there are fighter aircraft. So, no more bullshit.
  1. aslanxnumx
    
    +2
    
    4 January 2026 19: 42
    
    Air defense, no analogues, will shoot down everything.
    But the main problem is the fragments.
  2. CEBEP
    
    +5
    
    7 January 2026 15: 30
    
    A good air defense system without satellite reconnaissance and real-time communications links, reconnaissance aircraft, long-range UAVs, AWACS aircraft, reconnaissance ships, and ground tracking and control stations doesn't exist. Incidentally, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have seriously disrupted the operation of ground-based detection and space control stations in the European part of Russia. This was the only segment of the aforementioned that was available. Don't make up fairy tales for yourself in a patriotic frenzy... Our air defenses don't detect low-flying targets en route. We lack the resources, although we should have had them long ago. Targets are shot down over objects if they are protected, but they should be shot down immediately at the border or at a short distance...
    1. vitgusin
      
      0
      
      7 January 2026 20: 03
      
      Quote: CEBEP
      A good air defense system without satellite reconnaissance and.......
      
      This is what you understand, so write about it.
4. Dormidontov_Dormidont
  
  -2
  
  4 January 2026 20: 59
  
  Quote: Alexander Petrovsky
  The Persians' ground-based air defenses were knocked out by local Israeli agents, and afterward, they flew around like they were at home, and a B-2 flew straight to their uranium processing plant. The same thing will happen with Russia. We have a ton of ideological opponents, and for a little money, even more will do.
  
  Philosophy teaches us to question even what seems self-evident. Propaganda, on the other hand, suggests that we consider as self-evident what deserves reflection, what it would be reasonable to doubt. Aldous Huxley
  1. Alexander Petrovsky
    
    0
    
    4 January 2026 21: 16
    
    1. We question even the obvious, relying on critical thinking and argumentation. Iran's air defenses didn't fire a single shot or were destroyed—we don't know this for sure, but we do know for sure that not a single Israeli or Syrian Air Force aircraft was shot down, even directly over secret facilities. 13-ton bombs, as we know, don't fly very well; gravity and the shape of the bombs themselves don't facilitate gliding. Why, then, did the B-2s fly as far as facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, that is, more than 1,000 km from the border? Perhaps something happened to Iran's air defenses? We look at numerous photographs of abandoned ATGMs against the backdrop of burning Iranian air defense vehicles. We don't know whether they're fake or not, but we do know the fact: Iran hasn't claimed to have shot down a single aircraft. We can draw an alternative conclusion: the professional incompetence of the Iranian air defense system, which would then affect Russian military equipment and personnel training methods, with the most disastrous results.
    2. We strive for the truth, even if it is inconvenient - Iran fired missiles in response at wastelands and sparsely populated non-military targets (they hit the checkpoint of an Israeli oil refinery, without causing any damage at all), just like the Russian Ministry of Defense destroys substations and other civilian objects in impotent rage instead of military targets - why?
    3. We come to our own conclusions - either a performance was staged by agreement of the parties, or someone betrayed and sold someone out.
    1. Dormidontov_Dormidont
      
      -1
      
      5 January 2026 06: 24
      
      I believe it was a combination of the facts outlined in point 3, plus the work of saboteurs working for Israel (part of the air defense system was damaged; the leadership that could have given the order was eliminated). I suspect that Israeli (or American) hackers were at work, disrupting the air defense system and inter-service coordination...
5. Andrey Gladkikh
  
  -1
  
  5 January 2026 18: 25
  
  Tell us, Alexander, what happened to the Iranian uranium processing plant? Specifically, the plant itself, not the site where the B-2s were dropped. And I hope this isn't just some pontifical information from the Americans or Israelis. And have there been any cases since 1961 where anyone flew over us as if they were at home? In 1941, the Germans also expected that after the "atrocities" of the "tyrant Stalin," there would be a flood of people willing to assist them. Naturally, there were some. But not a flood, and not even close to the numbers the Germans were counting on.
Sergey Latyshev

+1

4 January 2026 12: 50

The National Interest....means crap.
I once read that our Kuznetsov was designed to withstand up to 20 missiles simultaneously.
So what can single missiles from Ukraine do?
Alex Eustace

+4

4 January 2026 13: 17

The best air defense is tanks on the enemy airfield—that's axiomatic! But sitting in a deep defense and wasting a ton of resources on destroying all air targets won't win the war.
1. Andrey Gladkikh
  
  0
  
  5 January 2026 18: 30
  
  But tanks at enemy airfields will require even more resources. And, most tragically, manpower. The idea itself is sound. The only question is the speed and manpower required to implement it.
Avtandil

0

4 January 2026 14: 07

The fifth column - to pioneer camp!
1. Andrey Gladkikh
  
  0
  
  5 January 2026 18: 32
  
  Pioneer in the sense of Vorkuta or Magadan?
steelmaker

-2

4 January 2026 15: 52

dissatisfaction with the effective operation of the Russian air defense system.

After the Ukrainian Armed Forces destroyed a cafe filled with civilians on New Year's Eve, only those from the back alleys can write laudatory notes about our air defense.
1. svoroponov
  
  0
  
  4 January 2026 16: 34
  
  Don't write nonsense, Steelworker. Everyone there knew perfectly well that mass gatherings are practically contraindicated in the combat zone. But the "Ukrainian stubbornness" of the local population worked, as if former Ukrainian citizens "their own" wouldn't touch us. And "their own" could have been from the US, Great Britain, Germany, and all sorts of others. After all, Ukraine offered to train NATO troops in the use of drones. And not just NATO troops, but also all sorts of scum from Mexico and Colombia. Perhaps they mistook these civilians for targets and the buildings for a training ground. But they trained. But you can't protect every yard from a drone strike, and there was nothing to protect there anyway. There were no military personnel in the area, nor any military facilities. You can look it up on the map. So our air defense and its effectiveness in this case are completely irrelevant.
  1. RakitinAxS
    
    +1
    
    4 January 2026 19: 55
    
    There it is more than 80 km to the "strip", with the same success it is impossible to carry out anything at all in Belgorod - there it is 37 km to the border with the outskirts, and 50 to the LBS.
    1. svoroponov
      
      -1
      
      5 January 2026 19: 14
      
      There were Ukrainian drones hovering somewhere nearby over the sea. They spotted movement and flew in, but didn't bother looking into it. It's possible they were ordered to destroy the resort and the hotel. They once indicated that there was an order to inflict as much damage on Russia as possible, if possible. That is, to destroy everything within their reach. So they're following through. They probably could have hit the empty complex.
      Incidentally, mass events aren't held in Belgorod or the surrounding region. And even there, the distance from the PBS to the border in the north is quite considerable.
  2. Strelok1976
    
    0
    
    5 January 2026 14: 17
    
    Your version of events seems to suggest that all air defense systems should monitor the area no closer than 100 km from the LBS, if I understand you correctly? Surely, the missiles should be aimed at the former outskirts? And could you tell me where the air defense systems should be located on Russian territory so that they could also hit nearby cities? You're talking absolute nonsense, sir!
Alexander Sh.

+1

4 January 2026 16: 58

It's impossible to completely shut down the skies and protect all facilities. When a missile attack is detected by the early warning system, a retaliatory strike is immediately launched using nuclear deterrent forces against the aggressor's predetermined targets. This is written into our national security doctrine. And our NATO "partners" are well aware of this.
GR777

+2

4 January 2026 18: 28

After what happened in Venezuela, all this fuss, in which our best guys are dying, seems like vomit. Half the Duma would sell their mothers to a brothel for a small profit, while the other half sees a brothel as the ideal state. Ask Zatulin why he wants to populate Russia with chinks instead of Russians.
1. Alexzn
  
  -2
  
  4 January 2026 18: 37
  
  Ask Zatulin why he wants to populate Russia with chinks instead of Russians.
  
  Is it true that Ukraine needs to be denazified?
2. Andrey Gladkikh
  
  -2
  
  5 January 2026 18: 42
  
  Please tell us about the deaths of our guys in the Venezuelan skirmish. Are you confused or deliberately sowing discord, or am I missing something?
  1. GR777
    
    +2
    
    6 January 2026 00: 15
    
    It's a pity that your brain is smooth; convolutions would help you figure out what flows from where and where it merges.
anclevalico

0

5 January 2026 10: 08

Well, let them think so, no need to disappoint them.
Watching

+1

5 January 2026 16: 21

Nothing is clear. What is this "air minefield"?
1. prior
  
  +3
  
  6 January 2026 09: 34
  
  "Air minefield" is a new kind of verbal chaff.
  This is exactly how it should be understood.