This article provides a detailed analysis from technical perspectives of Ukraine's "Operation Spiderweb" conducted by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) on June 1, 2025, suggesting that modern drone tactics combining open-source technology and AI could overturn traditional defense concepts.
Key Points
Scale and Results of the Operation
- 41 aircraft were destroyed including Russian Air Force strategic bombers Tu-95MS, Tu-22M3, and early warning and control aircraft A-50, with total damage amounting to $7 billion
- Inflicted damage equivalent to 34 percent of Russian Air Force strategic bombing capability
- Simultaneously attacked 4 Russian military bases including Olenya base in Murmansk Oblast 1,800 kilometers from Ukraine and Belaya base in Irkutsk Oblast 4,500 kilometers away
- 117 FPV drones were deployed with one operator assigned to each aircraft
- Operation was meticulously prepared over 18 months, with over 100 small drones smuggled into a secret facility in Chelyabinsk, Russia
Technical Innovations
- Utilized Russia's domestic 4G/LTE mobile communication networks, remotely operated from within Ukraine using pre-installed SIM cards
- Used open-source autopilot software ArduPilot to achieve stable flight through dead reckoning while avoiding GPS jamming
- Made detection difficult by embedding control signals in civilian data traffic, receiving control signals via UART interface
- Set multiple waypoints in cruise control mode, maintaining autopilot following pre-set flight routes
- Failsafe function during communication loss locked drone altitude, speed, and direction, maintaining flight path for a certain period
Features of AI-Equipped OSA Drone
- Used OSA drones developed by Ukraine's First Contact company, with maximum payload of 3.3 kilograms, maximum flight time of 15 minutes, speed of 150 km/h
- Robust closed structure with electronics and wiring housed inside the fuselage, adapted to severe weather and poor road conditions
- Equipped with Raspberry Pi small computer (approximately 85mm × 56mm, weighing less than 50 grams) to enable AI processing
- Shaped charges containing incendiary materials embedded in landing skids for precision strikes on aircraft vulnerable parts
- Completed development of AI-embedded unmanned aircraft system by January 2024 and began final testing
AI Terminal Guidance System
- Switches to autonomous flight mode using AI along pre-planned route when signal is lost, warhead automatically detonates upon approaching/contacting target
- AI development through machine learning using hundreds of Soviet-era bomber images stored at Poltava military museum
- Marked fuel tank locations of Tu-95MS and Tu-22M3 with red X marks, identifying vulnerable parts as targets
- Possibly equipped with Skynode-S terminal guidance solution developed by American company Auterion
- Repeated epoch (learning iterations) work, verifying target recognition under various angles, lighting, and weather conditions
Detailed Analysis of Operation Execution
- In attack on Belaya Air Force Base in Irkutsk Oblast, flew approximately 6 kilometers from trailer to base in 6 minutes (approximately 60 km/h)
- Strong winds suppressed speed and battery consumption limited attack time after base arrival to just 9 minutes
- Due to mobile network bandwidth limitations, drones launched sequentially rather than simultaneously
- With 2-3 second signal delays, weather conditions, and jamming risks, AI autonomous guidance functioned as essential backup for mission success
- Series of remotely opening wooden container roof, launching drones, and self-destructing trailer all controlled via 4G/LTE
The article warns that the high cost-effectiveness of inflicting billions of dollars in damage with assets worth only thousands of dollars, combined with the ability to access previously out-of-range areas by utilizing globally deployed ICT infrastructure, represents a new reality that could become an attractive option not only for states but also for non-state actors.