{"id":53227,"date":"2022-03-01T22:31:51","date_gmt":"2022-03-01T22:31:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/03\/01\/ukraines-drone-strikes-reveal-russian-planning-failures-expert-says\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T09:10:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T09:10:15","slug":"ukraines-drone-strikes-reveal-russian-planning-failures-expert-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/home\/2022\/03\/01\/ukraines-drone-strikes-reveal-russian-planning-failures-expert-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine\u2019s drone strikes reveal Russian planning failures, expert says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a small portion of the defenders\u2019 arsenal has had a disproportionate effect \u2014 Ukraine\u2019s handful of Bayraktar TB2 armed drones<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Videos of their exploits have millions of views<\/a>. They\u2019ve destroyed surface-to-air missile launchers and logistics trains. They\u2019ve inspired songs<\/a> and are a common refrain in videos taunting the Russian invaders<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite their small number \u2014 around 20, according to pre-war comments<\/a> made to Al-Monitor \u2014 the drones have been heavily utilized, according to Ukrainian officials. Russia, on the other hand, claims it has shot down some of the drones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Stijin Mitzer<\/a>, an open-source intelligence analyst, the small Turkish-made drones have destroyed at least 32 Russian vehicles since war broke out last week, though it\u2019s impossible to independently confirm the total number of vehicles they\u2019ve destroyed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An expert on Russian drone warfare, Samuel Bendett of the CNA think tank, explained to Military Times that even the drones\u2019 limited successes show that Russia is failing to implement its own air defense strategies. He added that Russia studied the lessons learned by Armenia in last year\u2019s war with Azerbaijan, which saw the latter nation decimate Armenian positions and vehicles with Bayraktar drones and loitering munitions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps the \u201cbiggest lesson\u201d of that conflict, Bendett said, was that slow, low flying drones like the Bayraktar are effective against outdated air defense systems. Russian planners were confident that their force structure, which prioritizes modernized, layered air defense, would be able to prevent such a massacre \u2014 but \u201cwe\u2019re not seeing…what Russians have advertised,\u201d Bendett said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russian units are usually arrayed in battalion tactical groups, BTGs, with layered air defense and anti-drone capacity, said Bendett. But the forward elements of Russian forces have failed to operate as BTGs in Ukraine, frequently leaving behind their air defense assets \u201cin inexplicable fashion,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[In Ukraine], Russia doesn\u2019t seem to display the very tactics, techniques and procedures that it\u2019s practiced for years and sought to perfect in Syria…[to provide] adequate cover to its ground forces,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bendett also pointed towards \u201cthe mythology of the Bayraktar\u201d and how \u201cUkraine is winning the information war.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor all the Russian military talk about winning information war, they seem to be losing, and the videos of Bayraktars striking what appears to be Russian targets is feeding into that [Ukrainian] information campaign,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bendett believes that the days of Bayraktar strikes are limited, though, should Russia reorganize its advance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf the Russian military reorganizes \u2014 if it sends in the BTGs, if it sends in adequate air defense capability, if it sends in its [electronic warfare] forces…it would become increasingly more difficult for Bayraktars to operate in an uncontested fashion,\u201d said the drone expert. \u201cThey were definitely aware of the threat. They definitely practiced against the threat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And even should the Russians recover and counter the drone threat, he noted, \u201cthey were supposed to eliminate a lot of Ukrainian air defense capability from the…first hours of the campaign.\u201d That includes the air bases where the drones are stored, fueled and equipped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A portion of that responsibility, according to other experts and U.S. officials who spoke with Reuters<\/a>, lies with the conspicuous absence of the Russian Air Force over the skies of Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe fact that there may be surviving [Bayraktars] somewhere is an embarrassment [to Russia],\u201d said Bendett. \u201cClearly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Compilation of TB2 footage showing strikes on Russian military targets. Some of the footage was previously released. https:\/\/t.co\/fCznAmZtiW<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/FSk5ilKBni<\/a><\/p>— Rob Lee (@RALee85) March 1, 2022<\/a><\/blockquote>