Paul Goble
Staunton, July 27 – One of the reasons drones are so effective is that they fly so low that until they are very close to their targets, they are protected against detection by the curvature of the earth. Ever more countries, the US, Israel and China, have developed dirigibles to raise the height of radar detectors and allow for the earlier detection of drones and their destruction.
In the face of Ukrainian drone attacks ever deeper into the Russian Federation, Moscow has decided to join them and has now announced the development of airships with a carrying capacity of 30 to 50 tons, allowing them to serve in a military capacity against drones (versia.ru/rossiya-sozdayot-pvo-na-osnove-dirizhablej).
How soon Russia will be able to produce such platforms in large numbers has not been announced and is not yet clear; but developments in this area could be a game changer that would blunt the current advantages those using drones to attack currently enjoy.
Of course, Russian experts concede that dirigibles are not a complete solution. Slow moving, they are easy targets; of limited carrying capacity, they cannot lift large radar arrays and other equipment; and of light weight, they can be thrown off course or even destroyed by high winds.
According to the Versiya news portal, all this means is that dirigibles will fill an important niche but only a niche: “AWACS will retain the role of mobile command posts and satellites will continue to provide widespread surveillance” while dirigibles “will serve as inexpensive extended duty platforms.”
In other defense news, the Russian defense ministry has announced that it is postponing even the discussion about the construction of new aircraft carriers until the 2040s, thus pushing back an earlier deadline of 203 for the delivery of such ships (agents.media/rossiya-peredumala-stroit-avianostsy-do-2040-h-godov/).
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