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Ukrainian attacks targeting airbases deep inside Russian territory despite lacking long-range missiles or bombers could offer important lessons about modern warfare in the event of any conflict in the Taiwan Strait.
Under the operation, code-named Spider’s Web, Ukraine smuggled drones into Russian territory undetected and hired unwitting drivers to transport them in modified containers to locations near airbases, some of them thousands of kilometres from Ukraine’s border. The drones were then launched remotely to destroy surveillance planes and long-range bombers as they sat on the tarmac.
The innovative approach was not just a damaging surprise for Moscow, but also a “wake-up moment” for militaries around the world, according to US Air Force Chief of Staff David Allvin.
He said the attack showed that “seemingly impenetrable locations” might no longer be so safe in the era of rapidly evolving drone technology and asymmetric warfare, adding that such tactics could “create dilemmas” for both attackers and defenders.
“The lesson is not just for Russia,” said Fu Qianshao, a Chinese military aviation analyst and former member of the air force. “[Such attacks] could easily be carried out by secret services or in special military operations.”
The lesson for China is that it would need “to guard against enemy forces infiltrating military bases in such a way”, Fu said.
