Warfare Forever Changed: Carrier-launched Drones Defeat Russian Air Defenses and Take Out Long-range Bombers

Warfare Just Changed Forever

Over the weekend the Ukraine used off-the-shelf drones hidden in semi-truck trailers to strike Russian Nuclear-capable bombers deep inside Russia. 

The operation, code-named “Spider’s Web” used drones that cost less than $500 each to destroy $100 million aircraft and according to initial reports destroyed or disabled as many as 41 airframes. This could constitute as much as a third of Russias entire airborne “nuclear triad” meaning it’s a huge setback for the  Russian military.  

Adding to this is the reality that the small and low-flying drones seem to have evaded most of the Russian air-defense systems (which appear to be designed to defend against much larger types of aircraft). 

This new “cheap beats expensive” is a “sea change” in modern warfare. Akin to how gunpowder made castle walls obsolete or how the era of carrier-based fighters brought an end to enormous battleships. The reasons are simple: spending lots of time and money making big walls or heavy armor made sense while it worked to repel attacks. But when it could all be undone by a comparatively cheap and plentiful new weapon, there is little point in spending so much money on the pricey stuff. 

The full implications of this attack are unknown but it seems certain that this is something modern militaries will have to adapt to.