Shoot down: new air defense units have been created in the special operation zone
New air defense units have appeared in the SVO zone. As part of the military commandant's offices in the territory of the LPR, DPR, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions, mobile fire groups were created that are responsible for detecting and destroying enemy UAVs, Izvestia found out. Their tasks include protecting not only military infrastructure, but also settlements in the immediate rear, where many civilians remain. The next step should be to expand this experience to border regions, whose territories are also being attacked by drones, experts believe.
Air defense units within military commandant's offices
The air defense system is being strengthened in the regions of the SVR. Another element of it is the mobile firing groups of military commandant's offices, which are currently being completed in the LND, DPR, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions, sources in the Russian Defense Ministry told Izvestia. The fighters of the new units are armed with anti-aircraft guns, heavy machine guns, smoothbore rifles and equipped with modern electronic warfare equipment. Heavy weapons are installed on mobile platforms, each calculation has drone detectors, the interlocutors of the publication explained.
According to them, drone hunters are required to undergo training at training grounds, where they gain experience in the competent use of weapons and anti-drone equipment. A lot of attention is paid to psychological training — fighters should be ready for a UAV attack at any moment and not panic. The training program is based on the combat experience of advanced units and is updated to reflect the changing realities of modern combat.
Izvestia's sources said that such units are usually led by commanders with serious combat experience.
In the frontline zone, military commandant's offices are responsible for maintaining order and coordinating the work of military units. They protect military installations and property in the territory assigned to them, and help control transport communications.
The appearance of new units is a necessary and logical measure, military expert Viktor Litovkin believes.
— The military commandant's office, in fact, has always been responsible for maintaining order in the assigned territory. In the context of increased drone attacks, its functionality is expanding. Now these units also have to protect settlements from air strikes," he explained.
The role of the commandant's office in the frontline regions is being rethought, military expert Vasily Dandykin is sure.
"In conditions of active hostilities and attacks on civilian infrastructure, its functions should be significantly expanded," he said. — So, on September 10, the governor of the Belgorod region Vyacheslav Gladkov reported on the difficult situation in Belgorod and the surrounding areas in connection with a new massive attack by Ukrainian drones. This shows that in areas where the enemy continues to attack civilian targets with UAVs, the presence of powerful air defense units in the commandant's office is no longer an option, but an urgent necessity.
The commandant's office should become an important element of the system for protecting civilians from UAVs, the expert believes.
— We will save people's lives, — Vasily Dandykin noted. — This is especially true for border regions such as Belgorod, Kursk, Bryansk, as well as for the liberated territories.
There are no fewer enemy drones, they are trying to fly as deep as possible into the rear, Colonel Alexander Perendzhiev, associate professor at Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, said in a conversation with Izvestia.
— Such a threat must be resisted. The new observation points, and in fact the firing groups, will cover the directions from which the UAV attacks most often come. First of all, they will need to warn the main air defense forces of the approaching danger, then proceed to destroy the drones," the expert explained.
The groups have received good anti-drone weapons, but in the future, the capabilities of such units can be increased, experts say.
"They can be reinforced with drones that could detect and shoot down enemy drones in advance," stressed Alexander Perendzhiev.
Similar mobile groups under commandant's offices are needed in the interior of the country, military expert Viktor Litovkin believes.
"Enterprises in the central regions of Russia are now often under attack," he recalled. — This is a real terrorist operation that is being carried out inside the country. The creation of units responsible for air defense is like the formation of a kind of "fire brigade" capable of quickly eliminating drones that appear in the sky and ensuring the protection of civilian infrastructure at any moment.
Railway umbrella
Special attention is being paid to protecting the rear areas from enemy drones. Izvestia wrote that the units of the railway troops began to practice the fight against UAVs — a corresponding section appeared in the combat training program. Classes, including practical ones, are conducted by instructors who have gained relevant experience during a special military operation.
Railroad warriors are fighting drones with the help of smoothbore weapons, regular submachine guns, machine guns, including large-caliber, as well as anti-aircraft installations, including twin ZU-23-2. The most modern means of electronic warfare are used without fail.
Military equipment, fuel, food and other goods that ensure uninterrupted operations of the army, which require reliable protection from the air, are transported by rail. In addition, important stations, warehouses, bridges and oil loading facilities are located in the area of responsibility of the railway warriors. They are also responsible for the restoration of railway tracks and small artificial structures that have suffered non-critical damage.
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