The British Ministry of Defence has released its latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine, revealing that Russia was targeted by multiple one-way attack uncrewed aerial vehicles (OWA-UAVs) on the night of August 29-30, 2023.

A current RAF pilot, remaining anonymous, told me “Russia is clearly being pounded by these drones.”

This marks “the largest attack on Russia since the start of the conflict.”

The ministry noted that explosions were recorded in various locations, including “Moscow, Bryansk, and Ryazan, as well as at Pskov airbase close to the Estonian border.”

The report also indicates that Russia experienced a total of 25 separate drone attacks throughout August 2023. According to the update, these attacks were “almost certainly carried out by OWA-UAVs. Many of these UAVs have reached their targets, which likely means that Russian air defence is having difficulty detecting and destroying them.”

The MOD states that the attacks have implications for Russia’s air defence strategy, “Russia is likely rethinking its air defence posture in the area between Ukraine and Moscow to better deal with these attacks.”

The MOD further added that prior strikes had led to the “dispersal of Russian aircraft to locations across Russia.”

However, the latest strikes against airbases in Soltsy and Pskov demonstrated that the drones have “significant reach,” thus complicating the dispersion strategy. It is likely that Russia will have to consider the addition of further air defence systems to airfields that it considers to be at risk from UAV attacks.

The full update is as follows.

“Overnight on the 29/30 August 2023, Russia experienced up to five separate strikes by one-way attack uncrewed aerial vehicles (OWA-UAVs) – the largest attack on Russia since the start of the conflict. Explosions were recorded in Moscow, Bryansk, and Ryazan, as well as at Pskov airbase close to the Estonian border. The attack on Pskov likely damaged several Russian military transport aircraft.

During August 2023 Russia experienced 25 separate drone attacks, almost certainly carried out by OWA-UAVs. Many of these UAVs have reached their targets, which likely means that Russian air defence is having difficulty detecting and destroying them. Russia is likely rethinking its air defence posture in the area between Ukraine and Moscow to better deal with these attacks. Previous strikes against Russian military airbases have led to the dispersal of Russian aircraft to locations across Russia.

However, the recent strikes against Soltsy and Pskov have demonstrated that the UAVs have significant reach, making further dispersal more challenging. It is likely that Russia will have to consider the addition of further air defence systems to airfields that it considers to be at risk from UAV attacks.”

 

George Allison
George Allison
George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison
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46 COMMENTS

  1. You reap what you sow I suppose! Good to see the Ukrainians actually taking the war to the Orc homeland. Notice how the targets are military and govt NOT civvies!

    • Makes me laugh when the Russians have the nerve to refer to them as terrorist attacks, while happily bombing Ukrainian civilians.

      • Given the amount of metal that the Russians have been expending its pretty obvious they aren’t actually targeting civilians like you claim.

        Civilian casualties in Kiev are primarily caused either by shot down missiles, or by Air Defence missiles missing, going ballistic and hitting their city blocks.

        Meanwhile the Ukrainians have been shelling the civilians in Donetsk since 2014 and have added HIMARS strikes and Petal Mines to their repertoire.

        Keep supporting the Nazi Ukrainian regime.

  2. Leaves a nasty taste in the mouth as these are terrible weapons not dissimilar to the German Butterfly bombs that were powerful enough to kill half a dozen unsuspecting civilians. They can penetrate into the heart of communities relatively unseen and kill at will. The drone has been delivering nasty packages of instant death or injury to thousands of Russians on the frontline. Now Russia is responding in kind and matters are just getting worse. The biggest revelation about the drone is its simplicity and low cost compared to manned aircraft and any country regardless of size, can now unleash terror without huge military expense.

    • Russia started this war, are you saying Ukraine don’t have the rite to defend and attack Russia, note who is attacking civilians too, Slava

    • To say “Russia is responding” to the attacks, is at best naive, and at worst stupid! Russia has indiscriminately launched thousands of airstrikes at Ukraine, using UAV’s, missiles and (supposed) smart-bombs. Often, these have deliberately targeted civilians, hospitals, power station etc. Ukraine, at least appear to be targeting military targets, in response to what the Russians continue to do!

  4. This makes it clear that the UK is likely to be at risk from similar tactics in the future if we do have to fight Russia.

    We appear to fall short in terms of local air defence systems. There are dozens of potential targets in the UK not only RAF airfields but shipyards where new vessels are under construction, naval bases, army camps, oil refinery’s.

    Sky sabre appears to provide a suitable capability but we have far too few systems, particularly radar where redundancy is required to maintain a robust defence.

    Do we also need a cheaper, shorter range system to cater for slower moving drones more cost effectively?

    Do we need a long range radar system covering the coast to provide early warning before an attack comes within range of sky sabre?

    • No air defence system in the world can counter cheap waxed cardboard drones, virtually invisible to radar and with a negligible heat and audible signature, they can almost fly with impunity through air defence networks.

      Factor in an enoumous country like Russia, with so many points of ingress spanning hundreds of miles of open countryside, it’s an impossible task….

    • “Do we need a long range radar system covering the coast”

      We have radar. Whether they can see these things with their small size and I assume low level flight profile I have no idea.

      What range do they have, and from where would Russia launch theirs from?

      • According to the pdf on the manufacturer’s website, 40-120km. Speed 60km/h. You’re not going to go deep with these but they could be terrors to targets close to the Ukrainian border.

        Anyone claiming these struck Pskov is either lying or that attack was made from a NATO country, with dire consequences. It’s WAY too far from Ukraine for this type of UAV. Or some covert team somehow drove across Russia all the way to nearly the Baltic and launched the attack. Doesn’t sound super likely.

        • Ah, thank you Noth. So, as I thought, Martins comment about the UK being at risk from these is irrelevant, as they lack the range. Unless they start launching them from the Embassy roof….

          Having said that, I agree that more investment into UK based GBAD systems is needed.

          I actually think your last suggestion is all too likely. There are partisan and anti war / anti Putin groups already hitting factories and such within Russia, Twitter shows a lot of this. Crimea had attacks recently from within.

          • These things come flat packed. Push out & fold along the dotted line type of thing. The end user assembles them (rubber bands seem essential). Assembled they are the size of an albatross. There is a launching system, but can also be launched by hand like a paper aeroplane. Hard to locate in the air, but also sounds rather hard to locate on the ground. You could potentially launch these things inside the outer air defence perimeter.

          • Thanks. A major issue then. The sort of thing that could be placed in the “Diplomatic Bag”

          • I don’t think small drones lack the range to hit any of the targets I mentioned if launched from passing freight vessels as the first stage of an attack. Though these particular ones might not have the capability.

            There seems to be a an assumption by some that the front line of NATO to Russia is a long way from the UK. It’s actually only 12 miles off our coast and hundreds of miles long.

            If UK has only a dozen mobile air defence radars then a single attack could tie them up to prevent a reoccurrence. We then would have no air defence cover for elsewhere or the government have to say we can’t defend these places.

          • Good point regards launch from ships. That was one scenario that was looked at many years ago by the MoD, release of a “dirty bomb” or even a crude chemical device up the River Thames.

            The RAF don’t even have a dozen. There are AD radars at 7 locations in the UK based ASCS force, not all of which are easily moveable. 1 ACC also has a couple of smaller ones. Then add the army ones, again not numerous and possibly not even in the UK if a war is on as they’re primarily for the Field Army.

            It is impossible to defend against everything and to cover all options, so MoD will assess risk, decide the risk is low, and on we go.

            I cannot see AA guns and AD missile systems appearing around our primary UK infrastructure, much as I would like to see some investment there. Spending there will mean a reduction of something else.

      • Doesn’t have too be all the way from Russia Daniele, There’s enough Pro Putin Russians living in England that must ve a headache for our Security services too keep 24/7 tabs on or do we ?

        • It’s a fair point mate.
          As for the Security Service, their surveillance branch ( A4) is currently interested in thousands of Muslims, Chinese, and Russians. Counter Terrorism is where their main focus lies, and there have been calls to increase the % to Counter Espionage.
          They are overstretched and they must drop certain subjects and prioritise others.
          When that goes wrong and bombs go off we get the uninformed, ignorant calls for their heads as it’s all so easy with hindsight.
          It takes many, many people to properly “follow” just one subject over a period of time and the resources, that is trained surveillance operatives, do not exist.

          Yes, more emphasis needs to go on espionage.

          • 👍I concur On what your saying Daniele dropping the ball always brings those all encompassing so called Dogooders screaming ” where’s the security services “

          • EXACTLY mate. They do their best under the circumstances. As to the nature of the game, you’ll hear of the failures far more than the successes.

          • Exactly, someone said they’re sick of political groups in Northern Ireland doing nothing. Sometimes “nothing happening” takes a LOT of hard work that goes unnoticed

          • It’s absolutely a case of wrong priorities. The security services waste vast resources, pissing in the wind chasing non existent ‘threats’.

            Meanwhile they have demonstrably been asleep at the wheel about things like Russian disinfo influence campaigns which is a real and present threat to our democracy.

            Speaking from personal experience.

      • UKR’s seem to have at least 400+ mile range. How many could all those long range Bear bombers that buzz our airspace unanounced carry? Or packed into missiles & released after ballistic flight. Or launched from subs

        What worries me is if we need to disburse our aircraft from our existing airfields. We’ve abandoned so many cold war airfields, selling them off, ripping up or building on runways. So civil airports are the main remaining options. Harriers were designed for landing & taking off from anywhere, but F35B’s need specially coated pads to take off & land on due to excessive heat of the lift fan. So we’ve lost that capability.

        We have good tools for defending our airspace, just in tiny numbers that would need to be rapidly expanded to cover the actual need & vulnerability. Yet HMG wants even more cuts!

        The best defence is deterrants, but when you let your capabilities fall so far the enemy has little to worry about.

        • We have actually retained plenty of Cold War airfields Frank. Many went over to the army. The runways exist, it is the people to ooetsre from them that we are short of.

        • F35b doesn’t have to use it’s Lift Fan, if you Take off and Land conventionally with it a suitably long stretch of road would suffice.

      • T45 can track ‘multiple targets as small as a cricket ball’,I guess assuming it has a radar signature – but could they track an actual cricket ball?

        • The old Type 22 seawolf Frigates where also supposed to track and engage cricket balls as well Derek don’t know if it was just “It could ” or just a comparison for incoming targets

      • The distance to Ukraine from one of the airfields is 700 km.
        The distance from one of the Baltic countries – 30 km.
        Yes, those cardboard Australian drones flew straight through Russia and Belorussia. Suuure.

        • Suuuure. Who said they did? I suggested the possibility they were launched from within Russia itself, not through it from Ukraine or the Baltic nations. That could mean from a group a few miles from the airfield.

    • You seem to have overlooked the fact that we are member of NATO an attack on the UK would invoke the rest of NATO any way we hope it would, Russia would have a lot more than the Ukraine to worry about.

  5. Good grief 😂 this is nothing but blatant propaganda

    funny these drone attacks aren’t taking back the Donbas? then it would be something worth baw bawing aboot.

    so an anonymous RAF pilot says… put this in contrast with what the PM of Hungary a NATO member had to say recently in interview in the US about the state of the war for Ukraine and the shite the MSM are putting out. I’d put the link up but my success rate with links on here is zero 🤪 so I’ll summarise “Lie” and Ukraine will run out of soldiers on the ground before Russia. & what counts is boots on the ground…… he never mentioned drones funnily enough

    didn’t hear him say he supported Russia or wanted a Russian victory he just had empathy at the suffering of Ukraine and the tragedy of it all.

    of course 99% of the room know more than the democratically elected leader of a nation that sits right on the border with this war😂 . It’s now apparent the one thing nobody in here wants to hear is the Truth on this war.

    We can only but hope some reality will enter the mainstream media and the British public get properly informed but I won’t hold my breath…….

    🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇬🇧

    • Just to be clear you believe what an elected politician says! It that selective politicians or all of them? After all NATO or not Hungary does tend to lean towards Russia.

  6. Funny how people keep calling it Ukrainian drones.
    Does it have the production facilities? Nope.
    Technology? Nope.
    Hardware? Nope.
    Suuure, it’s a Ukrainian drone and Russia is not fighting NATO.

    • Well as there are multiple videos and articles on Ukrainian drone production and development including now a claymore type you really should try harder and get out more🙄

  8. John wrote:
    “”Pounded”? Hardly. Still, keeps the propaganda going.””

    This past 7 days Kyiv has struck at least 52 seperate Russian miltary locations with UAVs at great cost to Moscow. For example a stike in the Crimea took out a Predel E over the horizon radar system. One of the most modern and state of the art radars Moscow has, and I’m pretty sure at the cost of around $200 million each, Moscow felt that loss. The strike on Kursk airfield is said to have taken out 4 SU30s , 1 Mig 29 (but that could have been a Mig 35,) 2 Panstirs and the radar of a S300, then there was the strike on Kresty AB which saw 2 IL-76s destroyed (Sat images confirm this) and at least another 2 damaged along with another Panstir. In fact Moscow has started relocating missle systems from the Kuril Islands (off Japan) to Western Russia in which try and mitigate the threat from Ukrainian UAVs.

    So Yes, pounded is the correct adjective in use. Granted its not on the scale Moscow uses, when targeting civilain targets, , but the Ukraine have stuck to the law of armed conflict ruke and only struck Miltary targets

  10. Considering Gatwick airport was taken out of full action by a ‘I saw a drone’ I think the UK needs a full reassessment of its anti drone capabilities.

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