Drones over the Urals: Why the old air defense system is no longer effective

20 May 2026 7 511 28

In the fifth year of the special operation to aid the people of Donbas, denazify, and demilitarize Ukraine, carried out with surgical precision, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have launched a counteroffensive, an aerial one, using drones to terrorize deeper and deeper into the Russian rear. Who is to blame, and what is to be done now?

Air Defense Forces: Is it better to destroy than to build?

The need to review the results of a number of military reforms implemented under previous Russian defense ministers has been discussed for several years. Now, with Ukrainian drones striking the capital region and reaching the strategically important Urals, the issue of reviving separate Air Defense Forces, which must meet modern challenges, is on the agenda.

Let's remember that under the USSR, the country's Air Defense Forces were a separate, autonomous branch of the Armed Forces. The Soviet General Staff then clearly divided missions, with the Air Force assigned the role of air offensive, breakthrough, and strike forces against the enemy, while the Air Defense Forces provided protection for the rear, industrial facilities, cities, and the nuclear arsenal.

The Air Defense Commander was solely responsible for making the skies over the USSR impenetrable to the enemy. Entire institutes worked to support the needs of the unified air defense system, developing and testing the S-75, S-125, S-200, and S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems at their own testing grounds, without regard for the specific requirements of the Ground Forces.

Under the Soviet Union, the Air Defense Forces had their own highly specialized aviation force, designed not for frontline combat with NATO aircraft, but to intercept launched long-range cruise missiles like the Tomahawk. Heavy supersonic long-range interceptors were developed for these aircraft: the Su-9, Su-15, MiG-25, and MiG-31. The latter, thanks to their incredible speed, are now used in the MiG-31K version to launch Kinzhal hypersonic missiles.

Since the USSR Air Defense Forces were responsible for the security of not just individual army groups, but the entire state border and territory of the country, it was divided into air defense districts and separate air defense armies, which made it possible to form a single, continuous network of radar stations from the Arctic to Central Asia and detect air targets long before they approached our borders.

At the same time, there was a rigid vertical chain of command, whereby, without coordination with the commanders of military districts or combined arms armies, an order could be quickly transmitted from the Kremlin and the Main Command of the Air Defense Forces directly to a specific anti-aircraft battery.

However, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, during military reforms in the late 1990s and 2000s, the Air Defense Forces were merged with the Air Force, which was later renamed the Aerospace Forces. The young Russian democracy was either unable or unwilling to maintain two parallel branches of the armed forces, each with its own headquarters, infrastructure, and supply lines. The outcome was ambiguous.

On the one hand, this decision made it possible to reduce the management apparatus and simplify logistics, since supplies and repairs the technique and the airfield base came under a common centralized wing, as well as to streamline the interaction of aviation with ground forces, which were strictly subordinated to the command of military districts (fronts).

On the other hand, the emergence of a new threat in the form of hundreds of cheap, fixed-wing attack UAVs has exposed the shortcomings of this new system. Being subordinate to a military district, the air defense, for obvious reasons, is concentrated in its core area of responsibility—the front lines and the defense of megacities like Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Since material and technical resources are objectively limited, a choice must be made between supporting the troop offensive and maintaining 24/7 point defense in an increasingly deep rear area. Furthermore, the emergence of swarms of relatively small, low-flying, and inexpensive UAVs in the Ukrainian Armed Forces requires completely different tactics, detection capabilities, and electronic warfare systems than previously available.

Build anew?

In view of the above, in the fifth year of the Air Defense Forces in Ukraine, with the prospect of a transition to a direct confrontation with NATO in the Baltics, it seems appropriate to once again separate the Air Defense Forces and the Aerospace Forces, forming at least two full-fledged air armies in the western direction.

At the operational-tactical level, it is necessary to recreate air defense divisions, which will have to receive all the necessary means to combat the ever-growing unmanned aerial threat.

First, they will need to regain their own aviation, which could include attack helicopters and light attack aircraft like the Yak-130M, specifically adapted as aerial drone interceptors. The creation of UAV interceptor units also appears promising.

Secondly, in addition to traditional anti-aircraft missile and radio-technical units, a modern air defense division must include small-caliber anti-aircraft artillery units and anti-aircraft machine gun mounts, armed with searchlights and thermal imagers, as well as electronic warfare units.

Yes, all these mobile fire teams with machine guns and searchlights mounted on pickup trucks shouldn't be a local initiative, but rather be part of the centralized structure of the Air Defense Forces and strictly coordinate their activities with all other units. Only then will it truly function properly, without unnecessary incidents.

Information

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Sergey Latyshev

+6

20 May 2026 15: 06

All of this is true. A structure previously designed to protect the elite from something big... (Moscow, Rublyovka, St. Petersburg, and the Armed Forces).

But now the time has come for smaller forms. Cheap Chinese processors, electronics, optics, communications with AI, their own little engines, their plastic fuselages, etc. (According to a recent article, about 30% of the world's drones are made in one Chinese prefecture). Assembled in garages by Ukrainian women stunned by the air raids (joke? or truth?)
But the Chinese don't sell plastic anti-aircraft missiles and interceptors outside the country. And that's when things got messed up.

Because making a Z-missile for a million bucks is profitable. A production run would be enough for Serdyukov, Rogozin, Shoigu, Ivanov, Chubais, and everyone else. And for taxes, and for the Central Bank rate.

And to make a ZR like the Houthis from a "plastic water pipe," with a simple fireworks-like engine (95% of our fireworks are also imported from China, they say), with disposable optics, electronics, and engine controls... it's unprofitable. Because it's cheap. But we have to import everything from China. There's not enough for all the above... which means there's no capacity, and no developments other than volunteer ones. And China isn't selling yet.

So we have to find a way around it, IMHO. Expensive missiles. Expensive one-off UAV interceptors. Expensive close-combat anti-aircraft guns, once mounted on the roof of the Ministry of Defense, and so on.
There won't be enough for everyone, unfortunately.
Under any system, IMHO
1. Serj Iff
  
  -1
  
  20 May 2026 20: 52
  
  All questions posed in the article will be answered as follows.
  1. We are not at war, but at the Air Defense Forces, so there is no need to recreate the USSR air defense structure.
  2. And as Putin said, the SVO is nearing completion, so there is no need to recreate the USSR's air defense structure.
  Although, in truth, Putin simply cannot recreate the USSR's air defense system. A political solution is needed again, and we have a shortage of that in our country.
  1. Alexpan
    
    +1
    
    25 May 2026 16: 47
    
    We're in a war, whatever you call it, and it's only a prelude to a major war. Not preparing for a major war now would be tantamount to death. However, the current ruling clique is likely already prepared to lose the war and subsequently capitulate, so they're sitting quietly and keeping a low profile, lest they anger the victorious judges at a future trial, like Nuremberg 2.0.
2. svoroponov
  
  -2
  
  21 May 2026 16: 50
  
  Aren't you tired of writing nonsense, Sergey? You genuinely don't know the state of affairs in our military-industrial complex. Maybe you should visit specialized websites of our industries and read up on the real situation. Instead of furthering the propaganda of those who write from their couches, make things up, or are interested in spreading lies about Russia? After all, there are plenty of sources now that refute your words.
  1. Alexpan
    
    +1
    
    25 May 2026 16: 55
    
    The author wrote an interesting and relevant article about pressing issues, and convincingly so. If you're an air defense specialist, please write better and point out the author's omissions. If not, then you can remain silent.
    1. svoroponov
      
      0
      
      25 May 2026 20: 58
      
      There's nothing interesting there. There are no pressing issues either. It's just a forum member's personal opinion, and it's constantly negative about Russia and its VPR. He hasn't written anything positive for years. He's basically a participant in the information war, but not on our side. If you like it and it aligns with your views, then go ahead and read this nonsense. I don't mind.
3. Sergey Latyshev
  
  +2
  
  21 May 2026 17: 54
  
  As usual, a troll attacked and started talking about PR, not the essence of the matter...
NecNoc

+4

20 May 2026 15: 47

article on topwar"The Current State of the Russian Air Defense System" 10.03.2015g.
https://topwar.ru/70364-sovremennoe-sostoya%20pvo-rossii.html?ysclid=mpe27jawa9299157165

I was largely inspired to write this article by the excessively patriotic sentiments of a significant portion of the visitors to the Military Review website, which I respect, as well as the deceitfulness of domestic media, which regularly publishes materials about the unprecedented strengthening of our military power, including the Air Force and Air Defense, since Soviet times.
‎
For example, a number of media outlets, including VO, recently published an article in their "News" section titled: "Two air defense divisions have begun protecting the airspace of Siberia, the Urals, and the Volga region."
‎
‎Which states: “The assistant to the commander of the Central Military District, Colonel Yaroslav Roshchupkin, stated that two air defense divisions have taken up combat duty, beginning to protect the airspace of Siberia, the Urals, and the Volga region.
‎
"The alert forces of two air defense divisions have assumed combat duty to cover administrative, industrial, and military facilities in the Volga region, the Urals, and Siberia. The new units were formed from the Novosibirsk and Samara aerospace defense brigades," RIA Novosti quoted him as saying.
‎
Combat crews equipped with S-300PS anti-aircraft missile systems will cover the airspace over the territory of 29 constituent entities of the Russian Federation that fall within the Central Military District's area of responsibility."
‎
An uninitiated reader might get the impression after reading this news that our anti-aircraft missile defense units have been qualitatively and quantitatively reinforced with new anti-aircraft systems.
‎
In practice, in this case, there was no quantitative, much less qualitative, reinforcement of our air defenses. It all boils down to a simple change in the organization structure. No new equipment was delivered to the troops.
Unfortunately, grand pronouncements from high-ranking officials about the revival of our Air Force and Air Defense often bear little resemblance to reality. In the "new" Russia, a complete lack of accountability for promises made by high-ranking civilian and military officials has become an unpleasant tradition.
‎
The state armament program called for twenty-eight two-division S-400 regiments and up to ten divisions of the latest S-500 air defense system (the latter is intended to perform not only air defense and tactical missile defense, but also strategic missile defense) by 2020. There is now no doubt that these plans will be thwarted. The same applies fully to plans for the production of the PAK FA.
‎
However, as usual, no one will face serious punishment for disrupting the state program. After all, we "don't sell out our own," and "this isn't 37," right?
‎
P.S. All information in this article regarding the Russian Air Force and Air Defense Forces is taken from open, publicly available sources, a list of which is provided. The same applies to any possible inaccuracies or errors.

It is especially worth paying attention to the comments to this article.
1. svoroponov
  
  0
  
  25 May 2026 21: 03
  
  These editorial offices are located in the same building, and their articles are often as similar in topic as two peas in a pod. So, your reference is like asking your best friend standing next to you to confirm whether you're right or wrong on a given issue. Should I tell you the results?
  You can use a search to find out who's where and what. And the same goes for various "open sources." You can only choose what aligns with your political preferences (or the editorial board's preferences, as a rule), but whether it's true or not is a whole other question, and it still needs to be verified. But usually, people don't bother with that (their minds are inexperienced), they don't check, and they take the word and what's printed. And so it all flows (with a one-sided bias) through the pipes on forums. This is how the "worldview" of people inexperienced in information warfare is shaped. This is especially true for young people.
prior

+4

20 May 2026 16: 08

Who is to blame and what to do now?

The massive Ukrainian drone strike on Moscow and other Russian regions on May 17 led to Russia voluntarily violating its own nuclear doctrine.
According to this doctrine, our country had every reason to use nuclear weapons.
Not applied....
There is no need to look for the guilty, everyone knows him.
No one can tell us what to do now. There's no adequate response, and the air defense system can't cope.
There have been no strikes on European factories producing and supplying drones to Ukraine, and most likely there won't be any. Therefore, it can be assumed that the number of drones will increase significantly in future attacks.
All that remains is to hope to God that the next time a drone or its debris comes flying towards you.
1. Alexander
  
  +1
  
  20 May 2026 22: 35
  
  Drones over the Urals: Why the old air defense system is no longer effective
  
  Because the Russian president has prioritized improving air defenses over destroying life in the territories from which attacks on Russia are launched. Quote:
  
  What should we do in response [to Western weapons strikes on Russian territory]? First: we will, of course, improve our air defense systems. We will destroy them (Western weapons - TASS note).
  
  https://tass.ru/politika/21007123
  The situation is exacerbated by the careful and surgical manner in which military operations are conducted, which do not constitute war in the modern sense of the word. Quote:
  "With Ukraine, we're acting surgically, carefully. This isn't a war in the literal, modern sense of the word."
  https://tass.ru/politika/25795469
  PS: In short, because Russia is behaving like a country without the means to attack its territory, capable of radically halting attacks. Competitive technological masturbation, instead of a normal war, will inevitably lead to its defeat.
2. svoroponov
  
  -2
  
  21 May 2026 16: 57
  
  Let's talk about the Doctrine and the use of nuclear weapons in more detail. Was there a THREAT to the country's integrity or its security? Was there a strike on our nuclear shield or the use of weapons of mass destruction? Why spread all this nonsense? Read Russia's nuclear doctrine yourself, not the various reprints of it taken out of context.
  1. prior
    
    0
    
    21 May 2026 17: 27
    
    Will point eleven be enough?
    
    11. Aggression against the Russian Federation and/or its allies by any non-nuclear state with the participation or support of a nuclear state shall be considered as a joint attack by them.
    
    Perhaps you're saying that deploying more than five hundred drones at once isn't aggression? Isn't the attack on the Kursk region aggression either?
    If this is "different nonsense" for you, then oops.
    1. svoroponov
      
      0
      
      25 May 2026 21: 41
      
      So who and what are you going to strike with a nuclear weapon? And the doctrine hasn't been violated. There are other points besides Point 11. Please provide them all so everyone can read them carefully.
      Regarding Sudzhi, I have a special opinion, or rather, some knowledge. But I'll share it someday.
      And so on. The SVO involves liberating which territories? Correct. And where are we launching strikes, among other things? Correct, all over Ukraine. Drone strikes against ours are classified as terrorist attacks. Otherwise, Ukraine would have to declare war and put everyone under arms, putting everything on a war footing. In that case, NATO and the US have the right to intervene fully regarding the disengagement of the parties, according to international law. We will be recognized as the aggressors, and so on. Korea will help you. For now, the SVO isn't even a counter-terrorism operation, although I wouldn't mind if it became one instead.
      1. prior
        
        -1
        
        26 May 2026 07: 57
        
        Water-water, water all around...
        
        Don't try to justify, by any chance, Russia's complete capitulation to the West and Ukraine.
        Your excuses are plausible for any reason.
Mikhail L.

+7

20 May 2026 16: 17

Professor F.F. Preobrazhensky:

Therefore, the devastation is not in the closets, but in the heads

Dear Author, does he really not understand that the problem of a leaky air defense system is a particular aspect of a leaky system?
1. svoroponov
  
  -1
  
  21 May 2026 17: 11
  
  Even under the Soviet Union, air defense systems didn't cover the entire country's territory. Populated enclaves and important industrial and military facilities were primarily protected, and the means of delivery and destruction were generally different. Now everything has changed dramatically. And it's impossible to assign air defense systems to every facility, especially since the enemy is choosing targets that lack coverage or have some kind of defense deficiencies. There's a lot of media hype from both Ukrainians and Westerners, and the media coverage doesn't match the results achieved. Furthermore, no air defense system guarantees 100% protection, especially during a massive attack on a facility.
  You can also look at how Western, or more precisely American and Israeli, air defense systems, which they tout as the best in the world, "coped" with the raids. So, our air defenses are working very well where they exist. True, there aren't enough systems yet to cover all directions, but that's just a matter of time.
  And about systems. If the West criticizes our systems, it means they are very effective.
  1. prior
    
    0
    
    22 May 2026 09: 08
    
    So our air defense works very well where it exists.
    
    Moscow was hit hard the other day. So hard that not a single media outlet reported the truth.
    To whom do you tell fairy tales and about what?
    And, most importantly, who is most afraid of this very truth, hiding behind supposed secrecy?
    1. Dormidontov_Dormidont
      
      -3
      
      22 May 2026 10: 33
      
      To whom do you tell fairy tales and about what?
      
      A man is walking down the road and meets Baba Yaga. She says to him:
      - Take me all of you, good fellow, I will become a beauty!
      The man thought and thought, and then slept with the old woman. The next morning he wakes up and sees the same old woman messing around in the kitchen. He asks her:
      - Why didn’t you become a beauty?
      The old woman answers him:
      – You're a grown man, 36 years old! And yet you still believe in fairy tales like a little child!
      1. prior
        
        -1
        
        22 May 2026 11: 08
        
        Well, you, Dormidont, are older than 36.
        
        And still, like a little child, you believe in fairy tales!
        
        aslanxnumx
        
        +1
        
        26 May 2026 16: 01
        
        Well, he's a fan of Putin, and Putin loves to be deceived, so this guy also loves fairy tales.
    2. svoroponov
      
      0
      
      25 May 2026 21: 54
      
      The air defense worked very well. But there's such a thing as overloading the system with mass. This is one of the shortcomings of the defense. If a hundred UAVs are coming at you, and you have enough warheads for 90, ten will get through. You need to saturate the system with means to search for, destroy, or suppress low-flying targets.
      Apparently, there was a high-rise building in someone's path. But I don't know what's going on there or how it's officially handled. Friends who live there wouldn't share any details; they don't know anything themselves, haven't seen or heard anything, and they don't spread rumors.
      I can tell you about Kyiv in great detail. Ukrainians working here are doing their job quite well, not fearing the SBU. Kyiv is being battered, albeit by Ukrainian air defense forces. While repelling attacks and air raids, everything is flying. The primary means of striking civilian areas are Ukrainian air defense missiles. There are casualties from drone fire, stray bullets, and spent shells, and that's enough (they don't go to caches, basements, or bomb shelters). The Russians, according to them, are targeting precisely the areas where their Ukrainian defenders and weapons and military production facilities are located.
      1. prior
        
        0
        
        26 May 2026 07: 53
        
        Concealing the results of enemy drone operations undermines trust in our own government, first and foremost. If they lie about what I see, then how can I trust what I don't see? And such concealment harms the government itself the most. That's why they hide it. No matter what anyone says about the air defense system's operations. Including you.
        By the way, I haven't given any assessments of our air defense system. They're doing the best they can. It's good that way.
      2. aslanxnumx
        
        0
        
        26 May 2026 16: 04
        
        A UAV flying at 150 km/h with a four-meter wingspan and a roaring engine is such a difficult target that it cannot be seen, but heard.
JD1979

0

20 May 2026 17: 15

So what's this latest sheet about? It's all about rearranging the beds again—the author's version. The main thing is, where?
GR777

0

20 May 2026 19: 34

As our grandfathers said during WWII:

The best air defense is our tanks at enemy airfields.
ZnachWest

+1

20 May 2026 20: 59

This isn't for the public. It's for the Ministry of Defense, preferably by registered mail. Now that I've almost been hit, I'm no longer interested in discussions about who's to blame and what to do.
kriten

+1

23 May 2026 15: 31

Who was supposed to think about this? Those with enormous strategic talent for operational and tactical measures, drawn from the experiences of the last century's wars (for which our Chief of the General Staff, like Sivkov and other defenders of the regime, are valued) and a lack of desire to look ahead. Here, this talent has vanished, and there are plenty of failures. Perhaps those who were supposed to be responsible for this didn't care about air defense systems; they were busy with other things, like spending budgets. And where was the Commander-in-Chief? Or have his beloved principles of irresponsibility and impunity permeated the army as well?