This photo combo from satellite images from Planet Labs PBC shows from left, the Belaya Air Base before a Ukrainian drone attack in the Irkutsk region of eastern Siberia in Russia captured on May 17, 2025 and damage after a Ukrainian drone attack captured on Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
On June 1, now in the fourth year of the Ukraine war, Russia suffered its own Sunday “Pearl Harbor” surprise attack. Its defenses were caught napping as more than a hundred drones and several missiles hit four or five air bases deep inside Russia, successfully wiping out and damaging dozens of nuclear bombers and other aircraft. Despite Ukraine having conducted numerous drone strikes against Russia previously, Moscow was caught off guard due to the uniqueness of this one.
Dubbed as operation “Spiderweb,” 117 drones, along with seven ballistic and cruise missiles, were involved. The drones were smuggled into Russia by trucks, which were parked near targeted airfields. They were packed inside crates — the tops of which opened remotely as the attack was launched across multiple time zones in Russia — some targets as far as 3,000 miles away from Kyiv.
Once the drones lifted off, everything left behind was programmed to self-destruct. At least 41 aircraft were hit, including what is believed to be more than one-third of Russia’s strategic bomber force.
Despite the Russians having relocated some planes as far away from Ukraine as they could, to the Olenya base in the Arctic, several aircraft were hit there as well. As these planes had been used against Ukraine in prior attacks, it was as if Kyiv sought to deliver a gut punch to Russia for having done so.
Moscow suffered an estimated $7 billion in losses. The net result was a significant setback to its nuclear arsenal. President Vladimir Putin has threatened retaliation. Whether a massive Russian missile and drone attack just days later was it, we will have to wait and see.
The complexity of the Ukrainian attack was only met by its brilliance, involving 18 months of planning. It was impressive enough for President Donald Trump to issue an order bolstering U.S. defenses against drones. This has renewed importance as unidentified drones have entered U.S. airspace in the past and have shadowed our warships as well. Ukraine is sharing critical anti-drone technology with the U.S. It did not provide Trump with advance notice of the attack.
For a Ukrainian military vastly out-equipped and out-manned by the Russians, drones are not a substitute for what it lacks but have become a force multiplier. Despite having no navy, it has effectively used drones to successfully sink and damage several Russian ships. And, just a month before Russia suffered its Pearl Harbor attack, Ukraine successfully downed — in the first such attack in the history of warfare — two fighter jets near the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk using sea drones equipped with modified U.S.-made missiles.
Ukraine is now the world leader in drone warfare. While Russia seeks this year to produce 3-4 million drones, Ukraine has a goal of 4.5 million. Meanwhile, Kyiv’s drones are better-made, more reliable and more capable of defeating the main defense against them — radio jamming.
Ukraine has become a testing ground for new tactics and weapons technology with innovation making contributions on both levels. It is not too dissimilar from the Spanish “lab” provided to the international community prior to World War II as Madrid’s civil war was being fought (1936-1939).
The Spanish Civil War pitted the country’s Republican government, supported by the Soviet Union, against the Nationalists, supported by Nazi Germany and Italy, providing both sides’ supporters with the opportunity to test tactics and weapons technology. The Nationalists, led by Gen. Francisco Franco, would emerge successful, perhaps contributing to Adolf Hitler’s confidence to later take on the Allies.
There is another battlefield that has become an active testing ground as well. As Russia did in attacking Ukraine, the terrorist group Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 innocent people, and triggering war in Gaza. Hamas employed drones against Israel during the Oct. 7 attack and still uses them now when feasible. While Iran has supplied it with drones, Tehran has also been training Hamas members to make them in Gaza. Thus, like the Ukrainians, Hamas too is proving to be innovative in drone development. Meanwhile, also on Israel’s target list are Hezbollah drone production facilities in Lebanon.
However, as we bore witness during the Vietnam War in fighting a cunning enemy, just about every chess move we made, introducing new weaponry onto the battlefield, was met by a clever counter-move. Israeli weapons designers have proven to be cunning as well, demonstrating their ability to quickly implement counter-technologies.
The most difficult drone attacks to stop or even minimize are those involving numerous aircraft. Imagine Russia trying to defend against the Ukrainian attack above, even if it knew it was coming.
Israel has had a history of working to transform high-power laser technology into a full operational system to execute actual combat interceptions. It recently became the first country in the world to do so. Known as “Iron Beam,” this system is capable of quickly and effectively engaging and destroying a wide array of air threats ranging from hundreds of meters out to several kilometers.
One of the major concerns about defending against drones is the “cost” of such protection. For example, the U.S. Navy is concerned over how much it is having to spend on missiles to shoot down Houthi drones in the Red Sea. Ships have on many occasions had to fire a $2.1 million missile to neutralize a $2,000 incoming drone. Thus, the financial impact can quickly mount — as evidenced by one ship that had to intercept 14 drones in one day.
The Iron Beam, however, has proven capable of almost zero cost per interception with minimal collateral damage. Plus, it can be integrated into other weapons platforms to add to a multilayer defense system. This system is now being deployed with Israel Defense Forces units to protect them from drones or other aerial threats. It has already demonstrated its effectiveness by “successfully intercepting scores of enemy threats” according to its Defense Ministry.
While a possible U.S.-China war could be in our future, there is no doubt that both sides are closely scrutinizing the drone “chess match” being played on both Ukrainian and Gazan battlefields to assess necessary changes they need to make.
James Zumwalt is a retired Marine infantry officer (lieutenant colonel) who served in the Vietnam War, Panama and Operation Desert Storm. He is the author of three books and hundreds of opinion pieces in online and print publications.
