Thread by @ChrisO_wiki

1/ Russia is said to be lagging far behind Ukraine in drone production, with as many as 40 to 100 Ukrainian drones for every Russian one. An angry commentary from a Russian warblogger complains of an ongoing failure by Russia to produce enough drones for the front. ⬇️

2/ 'Voenkor Kotenok' writes: "For those infinitely removed from the front line and who understand the war as a stream of official media reports, let me explain: at the moment, full-scale counter-attacks are taking place in many directions and sectors of the…

3/ …Special Military Operation, involving small units/groups/detachments. The fighting is fierce, with varying success, with individual terrain, positions, strongholds, and the ruins of populated areas changing hands four or five times.

4/ "Small groups are constantly maneuvering in urban areas with air support, where the main objective of each side is to spot the enemy first. Early detection means faster defeat, survival, and mission accomplishment.

5/ "Like us, the enemy is attempting to use attack aircraft, UAVs, including FPV drones (ubiquitous), artillery, multiple launch rocket systems, mortars, and a variety of missile weapons.

6/ "Enemy activity, for example, in the Orekhovo area of ​​Zaporizhzhia Oblast, can be explained by a number of factors, primarily the short logistics "leg": Zaporizhzhia, a large metropolitan area, is nearby. These include warehouses and logistics centres.

7/ "From there, everything is quickly delivered to the front lines. For enemy "light aircraft" operators, the conditions are excellent, if not resort-like—launch pads, control points, and launch pads are set up…

8/ …right under the cover of civilians in the urban and industrial areas of Zaporizhzhia. Some UAVs fly directly from the outskirts of the city itself, targeting our troops.

9/ "And now about the most important thing right now, something that, in my opinion, would be very useful to remind the leadership of the Ministry of Defence, various high-ranking officials, and, finally, the State Duma deputies.

10/ "Not today or yesterday, but much earlier, information was received that in ALL DIRECTIONS of the Special Military Operation, the enemy has an advantage in "light aircraft," primarily FPV drones.

11/ "This gap existed even before the start of the Special Military Operation, but, unfortunately, it remains insurmountable. This advantage is manifold. How does this look in practice?

12/ "For example, in the Zaporizhzhia sector, PER ONE OF OUR SOLDIERS IDENTIFIED BY THE ENEMY, THERE ARE 40-100 DRONES! PER ONE!

Even if we take the lower limit of 40 drones—does that seem low?

13/ "What are the chances of an stormtrooper, or even a motorised infantryman, surviving under these conditions? How long can a soldier survive on the battlefield? You can calculate it… Minutes within the margin of statistical error…

14/ "We are lagging behind in UAV production, which is understandable, as the technical capabilities of a number of countries invested in Russia's defeat, making this practically the main tenet of their foreign policy at the moment, are being rigged against us.

15/ "And we, too, were rather late in getting going...

16/ "UAVs are a fundamentally new branch of the military, significantly changing the landscape of combat, thoroughly reshaping tactics, and placing entirely new demands on the quality of troop command and control at the tactical and operational levels.

17/ "The issue of equipping our units with "small aircraft" and countermeasures is not just urgent; it is critical. The safety of personnel, the nation, and the future of our country depend on it.

18/ "That is precisely why investing in unmanned aircraft is a matter of Russia's future and requires special attention from the President, the Government, the Federation Council, the State Duma, the military-industrial complex, governors, and others.

19/ "But it seems we are so preoccupied with the future construction of a tunnel between Chukotka and Alaska that we are paying little attention to the unmanned aviation industry. Is that really so? Or does it just seem that way?

20/ "How can we change the situation with the production and equipping of our troops' UAVs? How can we close the gap with the enemy?

21/ "Only one way—first and foremost, by radically increasing the production of unmanned aircraft, with new, massive purchases from our allies, if not our sympathisers.

22/ "Gentlemen and comrades! Gerans [Shaheds] alone are not enough to achieve victory in the Ukrainian (and other) theatre of operations.

23/ "We need thousands of new long-range/heavy strike and reconnaissance, multi-role UAVs, as well as hundreds of thousands, millions—I'm not exaggerating—of drones for tactical use.

24/ "Again, for comparison's sake, the command of the enemy's Achilles unmanned aircraft unit happily reported last year that it had increased the number of drones at its disposal to 1 million!

25/ "We had enthusiastic reports on the testing of the heavy Okhotnik UAV on TV even before the start of the Second Military Operation. And how many of them have actually deployed and are participating in combat operations?

26/ "Or was Timur Ivanov [former deputy defence minister fired and imprisoned for corruption] also responsible for the Okhotnik deployment?

27/ "Basically, the front needs drones. The efforts of grandmothers weaving camouflage nets and spending their hard-earned rubles from their meagre pensions for the sake of victory aren't enough.

28/ "Personally, I would call on North Korea for help, which, as experience shows, can solve military and military-technical problems in the shortest possible time...

29/ "But the fact remains: our lag is unacceptable and stands in stark contrast to what the overwhelming majority of media outlets are preaching.

30/ "If the picture hasn't changed after three years and eight months of combat, that doesn't mean it shouldn't be changed. Better late than never..." /end

Sources:
🔹 t.me/voenkorKotenok…
🔹 t.me/voenkorKotenok…