03.06.2025, 20:27
Zitat:What Ukraine’s Unprecedented Drone Attack Means For Russia’s Bomber Force
Russia is currently in no position to replace large losses of its strategic bombers and future operations will likely be impacted by force protection needs.
Thomas Newdick
Updated Jun 2, 2025 2:31 PM EDT
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The future of Russia's bomber fleet after Ukraine's mass drone attack.
(Photo by Vladimir Astapkovich – Host Photo Agency via Getty Images)
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Operation Spiderweb, the large-scale Ukrainian drone strike against airbases across Russia yesterday, which you can read about in our coverage here, primarily targeted Moscow’s fleet of strategic bombers. These aircraft, which have been extensively used to launch cruise missile attacks on Ukraine, have been targeted before, but never on such a scale — a reported 117 drones were launched against at least four airfields. At this point, it’s unclear how many aircraft were destroyed or damaged, but there’s little doubt that the Ukrainian operation will have a long-term effect on Russian strategic aviation.
According to an initial statement from the Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff, the drones hit 41 aircraft. As of today, those claims have been reassessed, with Andriy Kovalenko, an official with Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, saying that “at least 13 Russian aircraft were destroyed.”
These supposedly included examples of the Tu-22M3 Backfire-C intermediate-range supersonic bomber, Tu-95MS Bear-H long-range turboprop bomber, and A-50 Mainstay airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) platform. Still unconfirmed are reports about the possible destruction of a Tu-160 Blackjack long-range supersonic bomber. The Tu-160 is very much the jewel in the crown of the Long-Range Aviation branch and is the only Russian bomber that is still in production — albeit on a very limited scale — as we will discuss later.
https://www.twz.com/air/what-ukraines-un...mber-force