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The collapse of the modern air defense system topwar.ru

It turned out that it is possible to deliver carriers point-blank. And there is nothing complicated about it, although many on our side allowed themselves to squeal about the fact that the special services do not catch flies, but all this is completely pointless: blocking roads in such a huge country as Russia or the USA is simply unrealistic. A country where tens of thousands of trucks and wagons go out on the roads every day will never be able to organize total control.

Or as it was in the Irkutsk region. After "Web" there was a lot of noise there too, they started stopping and checking all the trucks, and so what? And, naturally, except for kilometer-long traffic jams - nothing. In three days, all the special services, who were on edge, were exhausted, and in a week it would have been possible to send the next batch of trucks.

Only a very small country can afford total control over transport. So one can dream of an "iron curtain", but dreams are not obliged to come true.

Now let's talk about air defense. More precisely, about the collapse of the entire existing air defense system.

The strategic bombers targeted by Ukraine were protected by defense systems designed to detect and intercept traditional aerial threats. These systems were helpless against swarms of small quadcopters flying at low altitude and launched from hidden positions just a few kilometers from their targets.

Drone operators controlled the drones in real time, directing their weapon on aircraft, and, it is worth noting, they achieved some success. Their work showed the vulnerability of Russian aircraft, regardless of where they were located. But today we are not talking only about Russia.

Hamilton believes (and it's hard to disagree) that this vulnerability extends far beyond Russia. American military installations, from Ramstein Air Base in Germany to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, are equally vulnerable. And what about those important installations located on U.S. soil?

Unfortunately, modern radar systems have a hard time distinguishing small drones from birds or atmospheric interference. America's multimillion-dollar missile defense systems, designed to intercept intercontinental ballistic missiles and cruise missiles, provide no protection against a $600 quadcopter carrying explosives. It's a paradox, but it's true. Goliath has found another David.

The implications for American security are sobering. More than 350 drone incursions were recorded over U.S. military bases in 2024, and it is not certain that all of them were for entertainment. Events in Russia demonstrate the catastrophic potential of what we might call simple surveillance or amateur curiosity.

The United States has more than 220 operational bases scattered around the world.

From facilities in Africa and the Middle East to major command centers in allied countries, American forces operate from facilities designed for previous generations of military hardware. American aircraft, by the way, like Russian ones, sit on runways protected only by fencing and guards trained to repel attacks by humans, not swarms of drones launched from hidden positions at short range.

The first sign of this was the attack on Tower 22 in Jordan in 2024, which killed three American soldiers. An Iraqi drone shadowed a US aircraft as it prepared to land, then struck the base. That attack involved a single drone targeting a remote outpost. Operation Spider’s Web demonstrated the potential for coordinated drone swarms to attack multiple high-value targets simultaneously.

China is aware of these vulnerabilities and is taking action. Beijing protects its aircraft with more than 3000 hardened shelters, recognizing that the era of unprotected military installations is over.

Maybe all the “drone sightings” across the US last year that made a lot of fanfare was a test run for Spider Web?