Vladimir Turtansky to FACTS: Drones in Operation "Cobweb" used artificial intelligence

The Ukrainian Armed Forces continue to publish videos of drones from Operation "Cobweb" on June 1. Kiev already claims that 41 Russian bombers were destroyed or damaged. The published footage shows strikes with FPV drones (with "first-person" control) on four enemy airfields: "Olenya" in the Murmansk region, "Ivanovo" in the Ivanovo region, "Dyagilevo" in the Ryazan region and "Belaya" in the Irkutsk region. These airbases were home to aircraft, including "Beriev" A-50, strategic bomber "Tupolev" Tu-95, bomber Tu-22, supersonic strategic bomber Tu-160, as well as transport aircraft "Antonov" An-12 and aerial refueling aircraft "Ilyushin" Il-78. Vladimir Turtansky, military advisor in several offices in our country, spoke on the topic to FAKTI.

- Mr. Turtansky, we witnessed a truly unique military operation by Ukraine against Russia. I am referring to the massive drone attack, in which aircraft from the strategic arsenal of Russia were hit. How do you view this, because you know drone technology well?
- We are developing drone technology, but mostly in my business we deal with anti-drone systems. My specialty and my direction of work is mainly focused on anti-drone systems. In this case, we saw an extremely Russia's incompetent response to a drone attack.

- You say extremely incompetent response… What do you mean?
- The counteraction to the attack was zero, there was none. One of my former mathematics teachers used to tell us, when it came to infinitesimal quantities, that “its presence is equal to its absence“. The counteraction to this attack was zero.

- We saw that trucks were parked near the object – in this case the airport, and drones were taking off from them. How do you counter this?
- The very tactics of such use of drones are aimed at making anti-drone systems as difficult as possible. When targets are attacked from close range, it is difficult for anti-drone systems to react for several reasons. First, the drone must be detected. Second, it must be identified. Third, then it can be countered. The reaction time for such an attack is almost zero. The drones take off and attack.

- Many analysts say that this attack will enter military textbooks, but is the game with drones really becoming the basis of modern warfare?
- This is the trend. Large aircraft, large ships, large submarines are decreasing their importance, but they will not be lost. We must be categorical, because we hear very extreme statements that submarines, ships and aircraft will almost completely lose their importance. This is not the case, but they will significantly reduce it. I want to note something important. This type of attack and this type of use of drones was developed by the Russian side 10-15 years ago. Even then, materials were distributed in specialized publications, including simulated video clips, what and how it happens. Then Putin convinced us of the exceptional capabilities of Russian military technology, when he showed us these videos. I and many colleagues who deal with anti-drone systems have dozens of such videos. And it's about using drones in the way that the Ukrainians are now using them against Russia. The videos showed trucks with drop-down roofs, drop-down sideboards, and how they are controlled by crews who are legendary as drivers. The trucks in question enter the enemy's territory, go near his military bases, and attack.

- From what distance were the drones controlled? They were delivered to point X, but were they controlled from there, or from afar…
- In my opinion, both options are possible, and the more realistic one is that they were controlled remotely. In my opinion, the Russian mobile network itself was used, I mean the mobile cells. This is how the Ukrainians had access to their drones and controlled them. From the clips that were published after the attack, it was seen that these drones were in swarms. And this means that they communicated with each other. The drones in Operation “Spiderweb” used artificial intelligence among themselves. What do I mean? In all the video materials that I watched, you can see how the drones distributed their targets. The drones recognized the targets, recognized images. In many videos, you can clearly see how a drone passes a target that has probably already been detected by another drone. They communicated with each other and it was as if they were saying: “Leave this one to me, you take the next target.“

- And is there anything remarkable about the drones themselves, or were they completely normal?
- The drones are completely conventional. They simply have additional boards added to them that increase their capabilities and give the option of installing the artificial intelligence system. We saw the explosive devices attached to the drones themselves. It was clearly noticeable that some of the drones were the classic type of “kamikaze drone“ for single use. It chooses its target and crashes into it. Other drones carried two or three bombs. A complex approach was used. Some drones were for destroying the planes, but there were also those that were for destroying the accompanying infrastructure. The videos show that the attack is not limited to the destruction of aircraft, but also communication nodes, warehouses, communication towers, radar stations. In general, this is a brilliant operation that is brilliantly organized and executed. Since we talked about how these drones were controlled, the other thing that is also very likely is that they were led by people who were on the spot. People from the so-called “partisan movement“ in Russia.

We must be aware that there are a very large number of people in Russia who do not agree with the current situation.

Although the Russian media constantly explain to us how monolithic Russian society is behind Putin and his actions. In my opinion, this is not the case at all. Now, behind this attack and this plan, there is another element of Russian propaganda that is categorically being overlooked. The point is that the Soviet Union was a monolithic state, but there was a very serious mixing of nationalities and identities there. No one today can say in Russia itself how many are Russian and how many are Ukrainian. The same applies to Ukraine itself. So I assume that in this operation the Ukrainian services, the Ukrainian side, relied on such human potential in Russia, which is inexhaustible in reality. The resistance against the authoritarian regime is continuous. Now we are being explained who the fascists are, who the Nazis are, although for any sane person things are clear. But the resistance against such authoritarian regimes will never cease and the prevention of further such attacks can never be ruled out. It is also good to keep in mind that Russia is doomed purely technologically. From the technological development that was demonstrated to us with this attack, including the attack on the Crimean bridge, it is clearly visible that Russia is desperately lagging behind.