Counter-drone terror: countering kamikaze UAVs launched by the enemy from Russian territory
Recently, the number of cases of attacks by Ukrainian kamikaze unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on objects located in the rear areas of the Russian Federation has increased significantly. However, for the benefit of those who are “doomed to die,” it should be noted that the number of strikes carried out by the Russian Armed Forces on objects located throughout the territory of Ukraine has increased even more.
However, the problem exists and will remain relevant not only during the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, but also after its completion, since Faceless wars and drone terror are the new reality we will have to learn to live with.
There are two ways for the enemy to launch kamikaze UAV strikes deep into our territory.
The first is the use of long-range kamikaze UAVs. Examples of such UAVs are the kamikaze UAVs "Bober", "Lyuty", E-300 Enterprise and others. The flight range of such UAVs can be hundreds and even thousands of kilometers, but, theoretically, they can be detected and intercepted by air defense systems (Defense) along the entire flight route. We previously discussed counteraction to long-range kamikaze UAVs in the article Deployment of T-PVO – territorial air defense forces of the Russian Federation.
Ukrainian long-range kamikaze UAV An-196 "Lyuty"
The second is the launch of relatively compact kamikaze UAVs of the aircraft and copter (quadcopter/octacopter/hexacopter) type by Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups (DRG) directly from Russian territory.
For a long time, many denied this possibility altogether, although information periodically appeared in open sources about Gazelles, from which unknown persons launched aircraft-type UAVs from a short stop. There was (and is) no information on this matter in official sources.
However, after the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) and the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) carried out the special operation “Web”, aimed at damaging the Russian strategic aviation With the help of kamikaze UAVs launched from hidden compartments located in the back of trucks, it became impossible to deny reality.
It is characteristic that later Israel used similar tactics to destroy air defense systems, nuclear scientists and the command staff of the Iranian armed forces. It is not known whether one of them borrowed the idea from someone else, or whether the Ukrainian and Israeli special services had common advisers, but such coincidences are hard to believe.
The problem with drone terrorism is that, as we have already said above, it will never end, at least in the foreseeable future. There will be no Ukraine, there will still be the same Turkey and Azerbaijan, perhaps they will be afraid to wage an open war against us, but they can very well organize terror with the help of radical Islamic groups led by the same Great Britain.
Regardless of who taught whom what, Russia will have to fight new challenges, and it is necessary today (or even yesterday) to think about measures to systematically counter enemy kamikaze UAVs launched from the territory of the Russian Federation.
Presumably, systemic counteraction to drone terrorism will include the following stages:
- search for media;
- counter-guidance;
- interception;
- increasing the security of objects.
Today we will talk about the advance search for kamikaze UAV carriers, that is, about measures to prevent their launch, in fact, a preemptive war.
Classification
Drones launched by the enemy from Russian territory can be divided into two groups.
The first group is small and ultra-small kamikaze UAVs of the quadcopter type, for example, FPV drones, with a flight range of several tens of kilometers and a warhead weighing about one to two kilograms, although kamikaze UAVs of the aircraft type can also be of such dimensions.
The main difference of small UAVs is that they are practically impossible to detect during transportation - they can be hidden in a backpack, under a car seat or in a spare tire compartment, of course, we are not talking about carrying them to an airport or a train station, but Ukrainian saboteurs, as practice shows, are not complete idiots?
Of course, this is true only when transporting individual UAVs – when organizing massive attacks even with small-sized kamikaze UAVs, the enemy will need vehicles of the appropriate size and carrying capacity.
The second group is medium-sized kamikaze UAVs of the aircraft type, with a flight range of several hundred kilometers and a warhead weighing several tens of kilograms. To transport such kamikaze UAVs, a truck, SUV or pickup with a fairly large cargo compartment will be required.
The AQ 400 Scythe kamikaze drone can be hidden in a truck
Based on the above, the search for carriers of individual small UAVs can be carried out relatively effectively only after their launch, whereas carriers of a large number of small-sized and any number of medium-sized UAVs can be detected in advance by inspecting freight vehicles.
In general, the situation with the inspection of freight vehicles in Russia is quite interesting - despite periodic reports that enemy kamikaze UAVs are launched from the aforementioned Gazelles, the author has not noticed any particular activity in this direction, and after the attack on strategic aviation aircraft there was some visible surge of activity and then silence again...
So, let's consider possible options for "preventing" the use of enemy kamikaze UAVs launched from our territory.
Posting restrictions
Firstly, it is high time to radically change the approach to parking any trucks.
At present, they park “as God puts it into their hearts” – all the yards are filled with Gazelles, heavy-duty trucks occupy the shoulders of public roads, often ignoring the prohibitory signs – they certainly won’t be able to be towed away. Potentially, any of these trucks could contain Ukrainian kamikaze UAVs, and perhaps something worse – after all, everyone remembers the terrorist attacks in Moscow and Volgodonsk? Maybe someone thinks that Ukraine is incapable of such a thing?
The aftermath of a car bomb exploding in a residential courtyard in Volgodonsk
Accordingly, parking of any freight vehicles within the city limits – in courtyards and along public roads – should be completely prohibited.
Image drive2.ru
Where are they supposed to park then?
To achieve this, parking spaces must be created at the entrances to populated areas. Of course, city and regional administrations are unlikely to be happy about this, since these areas can be given over to the construction of yet another "human anthill", so that the implementation of parking spaces for trucks near cities and other populated areas can only be ensured by adopting the relevant laws at the federal level.
Accordingly, digitalization of the said parking spaces will allow for the establishment of records of arriving and departing vehicles, as well as, if necessary, their centralized inspection. Having information about the areas of launch of enemy kamikaze UAVs, data from road cameras, as well as data from parking spaces, it is possible to significantly increase the probability of detecting "wandering airfields" of enemy kamikaze UAVs.
Example of launching a UAV from a truck
Of course, this will not solve the problem completely, since there will still be trucks parked on private property, but their number will be significantly smaller. The possible options will include the transport of state and large commercial companies, which have their own developed control systems. The remaining ones can be checked by district police officers and the Russian National Guard, including non-departmental security.
By the way, in the courtyard of the multi-story building where the author lives, as well as in the neighboring courtyards, there are constantly a dozen Gazelles hanging around - some are parked permanently, some temporarily, but the author has not noticed any signs that any work is being done with them. I would like to believe that this is just the author's inattention, and that the work on inspecting and monitoring such vehicles is carried out systematically, at least by the same district police officers.
Image picabu.ru
Inspection points
The second component is the deployment of inspection points located at key points on highways that will be difficult to bypass.
Bridges over rivers and railways, entrances and exits to/from cities immediately suggest themselves as such. In order to avoid creating traffic jams in the area of checkpoints, additional multi-lane sections several kilometers long can be implemented at key points. All cars that try to bypass inspection points must be closely checked, and their owners and drivers will be fined thousands, up to and including criminal prosecution in the event of a repeat offense.
A couple of weeks ago, the author had the opportunity to travel a couple of thousand kilometers by car in one of the southern directions. So, thousands of trucks move freely along federal highways, and their inspection, apparently, is more an exception than a rule - at present, the State Automobile Inspectorate / State Traffic Safety Inspectorate (what is this structure called now?) There are simply no resources or specialized points to ensure a comprehensive inspection.
By the way, in one of the regions a narrow road suddenly turns into a wide concrete field - apparently, this is a reserve airfield of the Russian Ministry of Defense, so, such points can be organized as inspection points, when cars will go straight along the route, and trucks will go to the side to one of dozens of inspection points. Another example of the possible appearance of inspection points - entrances to a toll road.
Entrance to the M-4 toll road – this is what truck inspection points might look like. Image by Avtodor-Platnye Dorogi LLC
Needless to say, systematization of inspection of cargo transport will not only increase protection from drone terrorism, but will also deal a blow to criminal structures – illegal transportation, smuggling, trade in stolen goods and much more.
Beacon trackers
And finally, the third component is equipping all trucks with sealed beacons-trackers with a state-issued registration function, which special services officers will be able to confiscate if there is reasonable suspicion.
Tracking beacons should include two main functions. The first is automated reading at checkpoints, parking lots and simply some points of the road network that are not visually identifiable. Thanks to this function, a map of the movements of trucks will be compiled.
The second function is to register the route of movement according to satellite navigation data - given the small volume occupied, beacon-tracker recorders can store route data for several years. All these things are already quite common for commercial freight transport, where the movement of goods is tracked almost every minute. Accordingly, there is both equipment and software - it remains only to extend this practice to all freight and special transport.
Commercial system for tracking freight transport. Image starttracker.rf
Disruption of the operation of beacon trackers and/or obstruction of their operation by third-party means should be punished.
By the way, this topic will also have quite a civil application. Currently, a huge number of garbage trucks take waste not to specialized landfills, where you have to pay for garbage disposal, but dump it wherever you want - on the sides of roads, in forests, fields, and so on and so forth. Not far from where the author lives, a beautiful forest is simply littered with construction and household waste, digging trenches along the roadsides helps, if at all, then not for long.
Conclusions
It is high time to subject the movement of freight and special vehicles to additional regulation and control.
The threat of terrorist attacks using kamikaze UAVs launched from our territory, explosives to destroy infrastructure, the possibility of transporting sabotage and reconnaissance group fighters and their weapons - all this does not say, but screams that there is a need for systemic changes in this area.
Strict regulation of the parking and movement of trucks will also provide other benefits, such as increased effectiveness in combating smuggling, drug trafficking, the removal of stolen property, including stolen cars, the transportation of illegal migrants, and much more.
Of course, all special vehicles of the corresponding weight category – garbage trucks – should also come under the control of freight transport. (Who said they can't launch kamikaze UAVs?), sewage trucks (they can be loaded with explosives) and others.
Ultimately, this could become the first serious step towards systematically countering the use of enemy kamikaze UAVs directly from the territory of the Russian Federation, as well as reducing the overall level of terrorist and criminal threats.
We will talk about hunting for enemy sabotage and reconnaissance units that transport and use kamikaze UAVs from Russian territory in the next article.
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