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Russia is considering the creation of a nationwide system to detect and track Ukrainian drones, with a Russian defense-industry executive proposing a network modeled on the flight-tracking service Flightradar24.
Alexey Chadayev, CEO of the Ushkuynik Research and Production Center, told the state-run TASS news agency on September 11 that Russia’s current drone-detection capabilities are too fragmented and should be brought together under a single network operator.
“The first step should be the creation of a unified sensor network operator in Russia,” Chadayev said.
He proposed building the system around infrastructure already operated by Rostelecom and major Russian cellular companies, including communications towers and fiber-optic networks. Chadayev said negotiations over the proposal were underway.
“Russia needs a specialized Flightradar, similar to the one that currently exists for tracking aircraft,” he said.
Flightradar24 is an online service that shows aircraft locations and flight information on a map using data collected from a global network of receivers and other sources.
Chadayev said a similar system for drones could provide a common picture to organizations involved in detecting and intercepting unmanned aircraft. Each detected and identified drone could be assigned a number, allowing operators to see which unit was tracking it and determine who would engage the target.
“Thanks to this system, everyone involved in countering drones will be able to see, at any moment, every target that has been detected, identified, and assigned a number,” he said.
The system, he added, could also help authorities determine where a drone should be intercepted. Chadayev argued that the location of an engagement matters because a drone brought down from the sky can still cause damage when it crashes.
“The great challenge lies in shooting down a drone in such a way that it causes minimal damage on the ground during its descent,” he said.
Chadayev has previously advocated creating a unified federal civilian system for monitoring low-altitude airspace, saying it could help Russia respond to the growing use of Ukrainian drones.
Such a network could indeed give Russia a faster and more complete picture of incoming Ukrainian drones, helping air-defense units coordinate responses, avoid duplicated engagements and identify which forces are best positioned to intercept each target. It could ultimately improve the efficiency of Russia’s defenses against increasingly frequent drone attacks.
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