Russia's expansion of launch sites for Russian attack drones along the border with Ukraine and Belarus may threaten not only Ukraine, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in a new report dated August 17, UNN reports.
Details
"Russia is expanding launch sites for its long-range attack drones along the border with Ukraine and Belarus, likely to intensify strikes against Ukraine and possibly NATO," the ISW report says.
On August 16, The Telegraph reported that Russia had built 59 new drone launch facilities at 10 different locations along its border with Ukraine and Belarus, and that each base could accommodate more than 1,000 drones. The Telegraph cited an analysis by a drone intelligence firm showing that around 20 of the new launch facilities are of significant length, indicating that Russian forces may use them to launch Geran-4 and Geran-5 jet-powered attack drones, which can fly ranges of 450 to 850 kilometers and 950 to 1,000 kilometers, respectively.
"Russia is likely building these additional launch sites in western Russia to increase its ability to launch larger long-range drone salvos as part of Russia's regular strikes across Ukraine. Russia is also likely seeking to use Geran-4 and Geran-5 jet-powered drones for deeper strikes in western Ukraine, using the drones' greater speed and survivability to penetrate Ukrainian air defenses," the ISW report says.
"Russia is also likely moving its drone launch sites to western Russia in an attempt to protect Russian drone infrastructure from Ukrainian drones," analysts noted.
As noted, "for example, Ukrainian forces successfully struck Russian drone launch sites near occupied Donetsk, so the creation of alternative launch sites farther inside Russia could improve their survivability."
"Russia may also be preparing to use its Rassvet satellite constellation (the Russian version of Starlink), using the new launch sites, which could allow Russian forces to conduct precision strikes against Ukraine's rear-area systems and air defense systems from different directions," the report states.
"The new Russian drone launch bases could also support future Russian strike packages against NATO if the Kremlin decides to do so, as the bases would allow for an increased volume of salvos, while the launch stations would provide the drones with operational range over NATO territory," ISW noted.
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