In the near future, the Russians will try to launch mass production of advanced guided aerial bombs to expand their use along the entire frontline. Ukrainians are already being informed about this by open sources.
Let me remind you that during the intense phase of fighting for Avdiivka, the number of 100 guided bombs in one settlement and its surroundings was considered large. In the previous months, 50-70 bombs flew along the frontline, according to open data. Now, perhaps, this figure will increase many times over - if the Russians do not have problems with the flights of the aircraft that drops these bombs.
What and how can we counteract these Russian weapons now?
First, it would be necessary to produce at least a hundred lightweight and cheap airplane-type drones per day that could strike airfields from which Russian aircraft with guided bombs fly. I should note that we have developed such drones in Ukraine and have tested them many times, including against airfields. The concept of such use has been written down and has long been discussed in the offices of the General Staff of the past and continues to be discussed in the present General Staff.
“Why is it not being realized, let's say, in full? Because there is currently no single structure that would combine the proper powers to identify the needs of the front and at the same time seek to meet these needs by the Ukrainian home front and foreign partners.”
There are officials who can do this, but they are not organized into a group with strict responsibility and hierarchy, so everyone works autonomously and anarchically. Therefore, it is necessary to work in parallel with the state, and there is already a successful experience of such a movement.
Secondly, I believe that, based on the solutions already available, Ukraine can start launching strikes with the use of air defense systems behind enemy lines within a month. It is enough to integrate various systems that are now scattered across different agencies. In fact, we need the will from the very top of the General Staff, and we can already show shocking results for the enemy.
And in 3-4 months, we can work out solutions that will allow us to work freely in the conditions of countering guided bombs on the frontline.
But in order for this to happen, either a military-industrial working group should be created, supervised from the top, or such a group should be created informally by Ukrainian business and military personnel - domestic and foreign entrepreneurs working to supply the Ukrainian military.
A coalition is needed that will bypass the failures and obstacles of the bureaucracy and provide Ukraine with guided bombs.
So the question to big business is whether they are ready to join this process.
About the author. Ihor Lutsenko, journalist, soldier of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The editors don't always share the opinions expressed by the authors of the blogs.