MOSCOW, August 2. /TASS/. No country in the world, including NATO member states, can guarantee total protection from drones, former Russian Air Force Deputy Commander-in-Chief for Air Defense Lieutenant-General Aitech Bizhev told TASS on Wednesday.

"A radar field constantly operating in the round-the-clock mode and capable of spotting a fly passing by is required to timely detect any unmanned aerial vehicle. This is not the case so far. Locally, we can shield large industrial and administrative centers and facilities of a city like Moscow. No one is totally protected against the passage of such drones: neither Russia nor the United States nor the European Union nor anyone else," he said, commenting on an attack by Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on Moscow and the Moscow Region overnight to August 1.

The former Russian Air Force deputy chief said that the radar field destroyed after the disintegration of the Soviet Union needed to be restored to effectively fight enemy UAVs.

"Today all efforts are being taken to restore the disrupted radar field, in particular, by involving the orbital cluster, but such things can’t be done overnight," the expert explained.

Chief of the Radio-Technical Troops of the Russian Aerospace Forces Major-General Andrey Koban earlier said that an alert low-altitude radar field had been deployed over Russia’s major cities. The radar field is capable of detecting low-flying objects, including drones, he specified.

Detection and destruction

There is a difference between unmanned aerial vehicles and drones, Bizhev said.

As the expert pointed out, UAVs primarily include big aircraft-type platforms with large capabilities.

"Presumably, they take off from Ukraine. Considering that Ukraine closely works with the United States and NATO … against Russia, it has the possibility to use these Soviet-made outdated aerial vehicles quite effectively by furnishing them with advanced munitions and using American navigation, including satellites, to direct them towards the target. This, undoubtedly, poses a big threat to military and civilian sites on Russian territory. That is why, Russia takes all possible efforts and maximally uses its orbital constellations to track the place and direction of the launch of drones," the expert stressed.

The Ukrainian army still possesses UAVs that were used as target missiles in the Soviet period to practice their destruction at training grounds during drills, he pointed out.

"This arsenal is still available [to the Ukrainian army]. The Ukrainian side makes the core and provides it with advanced avionics based on the Glonass satellite navigation system to fly following terrain features," the expert said.

It is easier to detect UAVs than drones due to their size and large radar cross section, he specified.

"Drones are very hard to detect: they are of small size and fly at a low speed of 70 to 100 km/h. The radar cross section of these aerial vehicles is made of modern materials that absorb radar emissions," Bizhev stressed.

The former Russian Air Force deputy chief also drew a parallel between detecting birds and drones.

"Drones can be confused with a flock of migrant birds. Besides, they fly at relatively low altitudes, following terrain features," the expert told TASS.

An S-300 anti-aircraft missile system cannot be used to fight small drones, Bizhev added.

"This is incomparable. Pantsyr, Tor and Buk systems are used to destroy drones. However, a Pantsyr cannot be placed in the center of Moscow. Apart from that, counter-drone guns are used to fight drones and their data-receiving channels are impaired to block their control system. Unfortunately, all these measures are taken when drones are already inside Moscow," the expert explained.

Despite their limited range, counter-drone guns are a very effective tool to fight drones, he said.

"However, it is necessary to have a large stock of them along the drone detection route to disrupt drone control and data adjustment channels. The Moscow City business center is located close to the Moskva River. And these drones are capable of easily flying at an altitude of five-ten meters above the riverbed to timely adjust the flight direction, take to the sky, deliver a strike and self-destruct," the expert explained.

Drone attack preparation

In the expert’s opinion, it is problematic to launch drones from Ukrainian territory into Russia that fly at a speed of 70-100 km/h. Drones fly at an aircraft speed of 700-800 km/h. "But we have already learnt to detect and shoot them down," he pointed out.

However, theoretically, aircraft-type UAVs can be launched from the Kiev-held territory of the Kherson Region, the expert said.

"These UAVs can fly at low altitudes from the Black Sea and no one will detect them. If there is no naval group there, it is very difficult to shoot them down. If these UAVs fly at an altitude of 50-100 meters above the sea level, no one will ever detect them," Bizhev said.

Each enemy drone flight over Russian territory is analyzed, the expert pointed out.

"Situations are simulated similar to the incident. Each flight is scrutinized. All this is systematized and analyzed," he said.