More than two years into the Russian Federation invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Armed Forces are now forming mobile air defense teams to combat the use of adversary drones. Izvestia, in speaking with sources inside the Russian military, have confirmed that tacticians between Russian Ground Forces and the Aerospace Forces are working to form mobile air defense teams armed with electro-optical and radar guided air defense artillery which act in tandem with electronic warfare and physical obscuration (smoke). The Russian state-owned media service identified the ZSU-32-4 as the primary air defense artillery piece that will be utilized in these mobile teams.
These teams resemble the mobile air defense teams that Ukraine began using en masse in August 2022 to combat the growing drone threat from Russian forces. However, it is worth noting that Ukraine primarily employed these teams to counter the Russian Shahed-series drone threat, initially with the Mistral Infrared Homing Mistral system. These Russian teams are primarily charged with engaging First Person View (FPV) drones which have been plaguing Russian armor and infantry. Russian state-owned media was very particular that these teams will be used to support “storm troopers” or the Russian front-line troops.
