Russia is establishing a drone base at NATO's "doorstep"

Reference News Network, August 26 According to a report from the U.S. magazine "National Interest" on August 20, the Russian military is establishing drone bases near the NATO border, which may be used for attacks on Europe in the future. This poses a new threat to NATO's eastern flank during a time of heightened tensions.

A European intelligence report obtained by the British "Daily Telegraph" indicates that the Russian military has established or upgraded 10 drone bases in areas close to the borders of Belarus and Ukraine. These bases include nearly 60 newly constructed launch pads that can be used to launch attack drones.

These Russian bases include launch sites that can be used to conduct swarm drone attacks against Ukraine and even NATO member states. They are located near the borders of Russia with Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland, as well as close to the non-NATO member Ukraine. The drones that can be launched from these bases have a range of hundreds of miles, meaning that even non-frontline countries like Germany or Sweden could potentially become targets.

A NATO spokesperson told reporters from the "Independent" that NATO will "closely monitor Russia's military activities, including its long-range strike capabilities and drone capabilities." The official added that NATO has "the necessary plans, tools, authority, and forces to deter aggression and defend against any threats."

NATO is heavily investing in counter-drone systems and training, including a plan to invest approximately 34 billion euros over the next five years.

The Iran war has shown that even the best air defense systems cannot completely stop swarms of suicide drones. In a potential conflict between Russia and NATO, one-way attack drones are almost certain to breach NATO's air defense systems and strike military and civilian targets. NATO's goal will be to minimize the number of successful breaches by suicide drones.

Since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022, Russian drones have repeatedly entered NATO airspace. So far, they have not caused any casualties on the ground, but have resulted in property damage.

So far, the war has undergone significant changes. In the four and a half years since the conflict began, drones have become an indispensable part of warfare. The large drones that shone in the early stages of the war, particularly the "Bayraktar" drones that Ukraine procured from Turkey, have given way to thousands of small, cheap, and expendable lethal drones used to attack personnel and light armored vehicles.

Advancements in artificial intelligence technology and the inevitable demand brought about by survival threats have driven innovation in drone technology. Ukraine is at the forefront in this regard, developing new aerial, ground, and maritime unmanned systems. Ukraine's drones range from cheap systems capable of dropping grenades on enemy soldiers to one-way attack drones that are comparable in length to a sports utility vehicle (SUV) and can destroy oil refineries or factories hundreds of miles behind enemy lines.

However, Russia is also keeping pace. Moscow particularly relies on Iranian drone technology and stockpiles to repeatedly strike at urban centers and critical infrastructure in Ukraine, causing billions of dollars in economic losses and resulting in thousands of Ukrainian casualties.

In other parts of the world, the Iranian military and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have demonstrated that drone warfare is a viable means of warfare, effective even against the world's most powerful military—the U.S. military. The Kremlin's establishment of new drone bases near NATO seems to indicate that the Russian leadership believes one-way attack drones are key equipment for future operations against NATO. (Translated by Zhu Jie)