{"id":126526,"date":"2024-11-16T13:54:46","date_gmt":"2024-11-16T06:54:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=126526"},"modified":"2024-11-16T13:54:46","modified_gmt":"2024-11-16T06:54:46","slug":"how-russia-plotted-to-mix-a-deadly-new-weapon-among-decoy-drones-in-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=126526","title":{"rendered":"How Russia plotted to mix a deadly new weapon among decoy drones in Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">KYIV, Ukraine (AP) \u2014 At a secretive factory in Russia&#8217;s central grasslands, engineers are manufacturing hundreds of decoy drones meant to overwhelm Ukrainian defenses as they try to protect against a horrific new weapon, an Associated Press investigation has found.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">The plant at Russia\u2019s Alabuga Special Economic Zone recently started churning out thermobaric drones alongside the decoys, the investigation found. The thermobaric warheads create a vortex of high pressure and heat that can penetrate thick walls. They suck out all the oxygen in their path, and have a fearsome reputation because of the injuries inflicted even outside the initial blast site: Collapsed lungs, crushed eyeballs, brain damage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">Russia came up with the plan for decoys in late 2022 and codenamed it Operation False Target, according to a person familiar with Russia\u2019s drone production who spoke on condition of anonymity because the industry is highly sensitive. The idea was to launch armed drones along with <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/russia-ukraine-war-missiles-drones-bombs-098885dc87ac4ffbeecdc537650a85b0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:dozens of decoys;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">dozens of decoys<\/a>, sometimes stuffed with rags or foam, and indistinguishable on radar from those carrying real bombs. Ukrainian forces must make split-second decisions about how to expend scarce resources to save lives and preserve critical infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">\u201cThe idea was to make a drone which would create a feeling of complete uncertainty for the enemy. So he doesn\u2019t know whether it\u2019s really a deadly weapon &#8230; or essentially a foam toy,\u201d the person said. With the thermobarics, there is now a \u201chuge risk\u201d an armed drone could deviate from its course and end up in a residential area where the \u201cdamage will be simply terrifying,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">Russia&#8217;s drone factory<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">In recent weeks, decoys have filled Ukraine\u2019s skies by the dozens, each one appearing as an indistinguishable blip on military radar screens. During the first weekend of November, the Kyiv region spent 20 hours under air alert, and the sound of <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/russia-iran-drone-factory-ukraine-war-dfdfb4602fecb0fe65935cb24c82421a\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:buzzing;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">buzzing<\/a> drones mingled with the boom of air defenses and rifle shots.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">Unarmed decoys now make up more than half the <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/russia-ukraine-war-drones-bombs-missiles-c10b8419748e8874f331ea185439c8b5\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:drones targeting Ukraine;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">drones targeting Ukraine<\/a>, according to the person and Serhii Beskrestnov, a Ukrainian electronics expert whose black military van is kitted out with electronic jammers to down drones.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">Both the unarmed decoys and the armed Iranian-designed Shahed drones are being built at a factory in Russia\u2019s Alabuga Special Economic Zone, an industrial complex set up in 2006 about 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) east of Moscow to attract businesses and investment to Tatarstan. It expanded after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine and some sectors switched to military production, <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/russia-iran-military-cooperation-d982dd3faf78fbb17dfc8b9c1cb9dae7\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:adding new buildings;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \"> adding new buildings<\/a> and renovating existing sites, according to satellite images analyzed by The Associated Press.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">In social media videos, the factory promotes itself as an innovation hub. But David Albright of the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security said Alabuga\u2019s current purpose is purely to produce and sell drones to Russia\u2018s Ministry of Defense. The videos and other promotional media were taken down after an AP investigation found that many of the <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/russia-ukraine-war-drones-shahed-africans-11602ab837f0ff4635926d884b422185\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:African women recruited;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">African women recruited<\/a> to fill labor shortages there complained they were duped into taking jobs at the plant.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/russia-ukraine-middle-east-iran-united-states-d7802180c7ecbdbe5cd06ee72c6d18f7\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Russia and Iran;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Russia and Iran<\/a> signed a $1.7 billion deal for the Shaheds in 2022, after President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, and Moscow began using Iranian imports of the unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, in battle later that year. Soon after the deal was signed, production started in Alabuga.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">In October, Moscow attacked with at least 1,889 drones \u2013 80% more than in August, according to an AP analysis tracking the drones for months. On Saturday, Russia launched 145 drones across Ukraine, just days after the re-election of Donald Trump threw into doubt U.S. support for the country.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">Since summer, most drones crash, are shot down or are diverted by electronic jamming, according to an AP analysis of Ukrainian military briefings. Less than 6% hit a discernible target, according to the data analyzed by AP since the end of July. But the sheer numbers mean a handful can slip through every day \u2013 and that is enough to be deadly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">Daily drone swarms<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">The swarms have become a demoralizing fact of life for Ukrainians.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">Russian drone tactics continue to evolve. Now, more powerful missiles often follow close behind as air defenses are exhausted by the drones. The most destructive are the ballistic and cruise missiles that fly many times faster than the drones, which buzz loudly and can be tracked by the naked eye.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">Even the decoys can be useful to Russia. One decoy with a live-feed camera allows the aircraft to geolocate Ukraine\u2019s air defenses and relay the information to Russia in the final moments of its mechanical life.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">Night after night, Ukrainian sharpshooters spring into action to down the drones with portable surface-to-air missiles.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">One sharpshooter, who like most Ukrainian soldiers asked to be identified by his call-sign Rosmaryn, said he\u2019s shot down perhaps a dozen drones in all over nearly two years and saw one that was stuffed with rags and foam. Rosmaryn sees his adversary in almost human terms, describing the aircraft\u2019s quest to outwit his small unit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">\u201cIt was part of a swarm, flying as one of the last ones,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen it\u2019s in the sky, we can\u2019t tell what kind it is, because everything is inside the drone. We only find out after it\u2019s shot down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">Many fly at 2,000 to 3,000 meters (6,500 feet to around 10,000 feet) before dropping to lower altitudes on their final approach, Rosmaryn said. Leaked videos suggest Ukraine is now using helicopters to shoot down the high-altitude drones.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">Three decoys of Russian origin have crashed in Moldova in the past week, authorities there said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">Thanks to optical trickery, radar can\u2019t distinguish a drone armed with a <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/russia-ukraine-war-iran-drones-un-sanctions-98cc967c16265836ce4b004b29703cfd\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Shahed\u2019s usual 50-kilogram payload;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Shahed\u2019s usual 50-kilogram payload<\/a> of explosives or with a thermobaric weapon \u2013 also known as a vacuum bomb \u2013 from those without a warhead or topped with live-feed surveillance cameras. There are also other even rougher-quality drones, armed and unarmed, but in fewer quantities than the Shahed-style unmanned aircraft.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">That\u2019s why, even knowing that decoys now make up most of an incoming swarm, Ukraine can\u2019t afford to let anything through.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">\u201cFor us, it\u2019s just a point on the radar \u2026 It has speed, direction, and altitude,\u201d said Col. Yurii Ihnat, an Air Force spokesman. \u201cWe have no way of identifying the exact target during flight, so we have to either jam them with electronic warfare or use firepower to neutralize them. The enemy uses these to scatter our attention.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">The engines and electronics for the armed Shaheds and decoys are a mix of Chinese and Western imports, according to fragments seen by The Associated Press at a Ukrainian military lab. Without them, the drones can\u2019t fly. Despite nearly three years of sanctions, Moscow can still source the parts \u2013 largely from China and via third countries in Central Asia and the Middle East.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">Halfway through the series of air alerts on Nov. 2, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the swarms of Shaheds, which he put at 2,000 for the month of October alone, were made possible by Western technology slipping through sanctions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">\u201cIncluded in this many Shaheds are more than 170,000 components that should have been blocked for delivery to Russia. Microcircuits, microcontrollers, processors, many different parts, without which this terror would simply be impossible,\u201d Zelenskyy said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">The joint manufacturing of the drones \u2014 some to carry bombs, others to divert attention \u2014 is saving Russia&#8217;s military money. Production of the decoys started earlier this year and now the plant turns out about 40 of the cheaper unarmed drones a day and around 10 armed ones, which cost an estimated $50,000 and take longer to produce, according to the person with knowledge of Russian drone production.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">The Russian news outlet Izvestia in late October said the aim of the decoy is to \u201dweaken\u201d the enemy by forcing it to waste ammunition before sending in armed Shaheds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">Both Beskrestnov and the person familiar with Russian drone production said engineers at Alabuga are also constantly experimenting, putting Moscow at the cutting edge of drone production. To make electronic interference harder, they add Ukrainian SIM cards, roaming SIMS, Starlinks, fiberoptics \u2013 and can sometimes receive real-time feedback before the drones are jammed, downed or run out of fuel. Sometimes they attach a silver-painted foam ball to make the drone seem larger on a radar.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">But the latest thermobaric variant is causing new anguish in Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">Thermobaric fears<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">From a military point of view, <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/russia-ukraine-kyiv-world-war-ii-europe-military-facilities-5b105b30af83b8c67e6ef854b611faca\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:thermobarics are ideal;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">thermobarics are ideal<\/a> for going after targets that are either inside fortified buildings or deep underground.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">Alabuga\u2019s thermobaric drones are particularly destructive when they strike buildings, because they are also loaded with ball bearings to cause maximum damage even beyond the superheated blast, said Albright.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">Beskrestnov, who is more widely known as Flash and whose black military van is kitted out with electronic jammers to down drones, said the thermobarics were first used over the summer and estimated they now make up between 3% and 5% of all drones.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">\u201cThis type of warhead has the possibility to destroy a huge building, especially block flats. And it\u2019s very effective if the Russian Federation tries to <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/ukraine-energy-russia-airstrikes-greenpeace-1dfe7e60d4f9291f1196afda1a19373a\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:attack our power plants;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">attack our power plants<\/a>,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">They have a fearsome reputation because of the physical effects even on people caught outside the initial blast site, said Arthur van Coller, an expert in international humanitarian law at South Africa\u2019s University of Fort Hare.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">\u201cWith a thermobaric explosion, because of the cloud it would create, everything in its radius would be affected,\u201d he said. \u201cIt creates massive fear in the civilian population. Thermobaric weapons have created this idea that they are really horrible weapons and that creates fear.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">___<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0\">Burrows reported from Washington D.C. Stephen McGrath contributed from Sighisoara, Romania.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/operation-false-target-russia-plotted-050449532.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>KYIV, Ukraine (AP) \u2014 At a secretive factory in Russia&#8217;s central grasslands, engineers are manufacturing hundreds of decoy drones meant to overwhelm Ukrainian defenses as they try to protect against &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=126526\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-126526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=126526"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126526\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=126526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=126526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=126526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}