Tag: drone attack

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Ukraine confirms drone attack on Russian air base near Moscow

The Shaykovka military air base operates Tupolev Tu-22M3 supersonic long-range bombers that have been used by Russia to strike targets in Ukraine since the start of the invasion in February 2022…reports Asian Lite News

Ukrainian authorities have confirmed of carrying out a drone attack on a Russian military air base located near Moscow, media reports said.

The drone attack on Shaykovka air base in Russia’s Kaluga region left “at least one aircraft damaged”, CNN quoted Andriy Yusov, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence, as saying to local media on Monday.

“At least one plane is damaged. As in most cases, the Russian regime is trying to hide the true extent of losses and damage,” Yusov said.

The Shaykovka military air base operates Tupolev Tu-22M3 supersonic long-range bombers that have been used by Russia to strike targets in Ukraine since the start of the invasion in February 2022.

The Ukrainian air force reported on August 15 that aircraft operating from the Shaykovka air base had launched four Kh-22 air cruise missiles toward Ukraine.

According to Yusov, Monday’s attack was carried out “in clear coordination with the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ukraine’s Defense Ministry” .

“There are people who, in coordination with the Main Directorate of Intelligence, completed the assigned tasks,” Yusov said, adding that this specific task was carried out from within the Russian territory.

“In many other cases” Ukraine’s Intelligence performs various tasks from within the Russian territory, he said.

Russian social media blog Baza, which has close contacts with the Russian security services, said a Ukrainian drone had crashed on the territory of the Shaykovka air base on Monday, reports CNN.  Baza reported that “an unused aircraft at the airfield was damaged”.

“However, this information has not been officially confirmed,” it added. Another Russian Telegram channel, Mash, said: “the Ukrainian armed forces attempted to attack the Shaykovka military airfield in the Kaluga region.”

Later in the day, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that Russian air defence downed two attack drones over the capital region, the BBC reported. Flights were suspended at Moscow’s three biggest airports, according to state media, but the two main international airports at Sheremetyevo and Domodedovo later reopened.

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Flights disrupted at Moscow airport due to drone attack

Russian state media said one of the drones crashed in the town of Kubinka, which is roughly 36 km from the Vnukovo Airport in the south-west of the city…reports Asian Lite News

Ukraine has launched a drone attack on Moscow, the Russian Defence Ministry said, forcing flights to be diverted from the Vnukovo International Airport, a media report said.

Five drones were reportedly used in Tuesday’s attack, which also targeted locations in the wider region around the capital. The ministry said all the drones were shot down and there were no casualties or damage. Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the alleged attack.

Restrictions at Vnukovo Airport, one of Moscow’s three international airports, have now been lifted. Flights from Turkey, the UAE and Egypt were among those affected. According to the Defence Ministry, four of the drones flying in the Moscow region were shot down by air defence systems. A fifth was intercepted electronically before crashing.

“An attempt by the Kiev regime to attack a zone where civil infrastructure is located, including an airport that receives international flights, is a new terrorist act,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Telegram.

Russian state media said one of the drones crashed in the town of Kubinka, which is roughly 36 km from the Vnukovo Airport in the south-west of the city. Another was reportedly shot down near the village of Valuevo, also near the airport.

Tuesday’s drone attack comes after Ukraine launched its counter-offensive against Russia. This has not yet achieved the sort of speed and momentum some had hoped for, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who previously acknowledged progress was slow.

ALSO READ-Russia blames Ukraine for drone attacks on Moscow

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UN urged to curb ‘Iranian terrorism’ after armed drone strike

Two crewmen, one British and one Romanian, died in an attack on the MT Mercer Street, which was on its way from Dar es Salaam to Fujairah, reports Asian Lite News

The UN was urged on Saturday to take action against “Iranian terrorism” after a tanker was attacked by explosives-laden drones in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Oman.

Two crewmen, one British and one Romanian, died in Thursday’s attack on the MT Mercer Street, which was on its way from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania to Fujairah in the UAE.

The US military said that early indications “clearly point” to a drone strike on the Mercer Street.

Iran’s Arabic-language Al-Alam state TV channel, citing “informed regional sources,” said the attack was a “response to a recent Israeli attack” targeting an airport in central Syria where Iran is backing the regime.

The Liberian-flagged Japanese-owned vessel is operated by Zodiac Maritime, an Israeli company based in the UK. On Saturday the ship was being escorted into port by the American aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan.

“US Navy personnel are on the Mercer Street, assisting the vessel’s crew,” the US military’s Central Command said. “US navy explosives experts are aboard to ensure there is no additional danger to the crew, and are prepared to support an investigation into the attack.”

The maritime industry analysts Dryad Global said the attack had “the hallmarks of the ongoing Israel/Iran ‘shadow war’.”

It said the attack was the fifth against a ship connected to Israel since February, and two ships linked to Iran had been attacked in the same period.

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid ordered his country’s diplomats to push for UN action against “Iranian terrorism.”

He said: “I’ve instructed the embassies in Washington, London and the UN to work with their interlocutors in government and the relevant delegations in the UN headquarters in New York.

“Iran is not just an Israeli problem, but an exporter of terrorism, destruction and instability that are hurting us all.”

Lapid said he had also spoken to British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, stressing “the need to respond severely to the attack on the ship in which a British citizen was killed.”

The US military said early indications “clearly point” to a drone strike on the Mercer Street. Several unmanned Iranian drones appear to have carried out the attack, crashing into living quarters under the ship’s command center.

Iranian state TV said the drone strike was retaliation to “a recent Israeli attack” on Iranian targets at an airport in central Syria.

Several unmanned Iranian drones appear to have carried out the attack on the Mercer Street, crashing into living quarters under the ship’s command center, the New York Times reported citing anonymous Israeli officials.

A US official told the newspaper Americans boarded the ship to investigate the attack.

The strike on the tanker comes as European powers meet with Iran in an effort to shore up a 2015 agreement to curtail the Islamic republic’s nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions.

The accord was strained when in 2018 former US President Donald Trump withdrew the US unilaterally and reimposed sanctions.

Negotiations in Vienna, where the US is indirectly taking part, have stalled ahead of next week’s inauguration of newly elected ultra-conservative Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi.

Retired Israeli Brig. Gen. Shlomo Brom, a senior research fellow at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, said the attack appeared to copy elements of an Israeli exploding drone strike on a centrifuge manufacturing site in Iran in June.

Israel “started developing drones and was among the first to develop the concept of a kamikaze,” Gen. Brom said.

“The Iranians are imitating us and adopting the same techniques.” Iran’s strike was “a certain escalation but aimed at avoiding a full-scale war,” he said. “They are not interested in a wider escalation, just as we are not interested in a wider escalation.”

In June, Iran said it had foiled a sabotage attack on an atomic energy agency building near the city of Karaj west of Tehran.

But aerial photographs obtained by private Israeli intelligence firm The Intel Lab revealed damage to the site.

By Friday afternoon, Zodiac Maritime said the ship was “sailing under the control of her crew” to a safe location under the protection of a US naval escort.

ALSO READ: US to hit Iran with more sanctions for missile, drone program

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Pak enhanced drone power during India-China row

Intelligence agencies say Pakistan Army is carrying out training of mini unmanned systems group, Supercam S-250, one of the best unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in terms of tactical and technical characteristics, in the border areas, reports Sumit Kumar Singh

Pakistan enhanced its unmanned strike capabilities — procuring armed drones from Turkey and China extensively — when India was caught in border disputes with China, sources said.

The security threat from armed drones allegedly coming from Pakistan in the border areas of Jammu and Kashmir has increased, and the drone attack at the Indian Air Force station in Jammu on June 27 is the best example of that, sources said.

India and China are involved in border disputes for some time now and so far 11 rounds of diplomatic and military-level talks have taken place to resolve issues.

However, apart from de-escalation at Pangong Tso — a glacier at 14,000 feet in Eastern Ladakh — disputes still remain at the other friction points like the disputed areas of Gogra, Hot Springs, Demchok and Depsang along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh.

Intelligence agencies said that the Pakistan Army is carrying out training of mini unmanned systems group, Supercam S-250, one of the best unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in terms of tactical and technical characteristics, in the border areas.

These Supercam S-250 mini UAVs are being utilised for Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) exercise.

“As part of the exercise, all formations have been instructed to forward a detailed report regarding the employability of mini UAV S-250 for Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance during various phases and operations of war,” the source said.

On June 24, Pakistan had planned to conduct test firing of a missile from a UAV. The missile and UAV are assessed to be Barq laser guided missile and Burraq UAV. Burraq is an unmanned combat aerial vehicle developed and built by the National Engineering and Scientific Commission (NESCOM). Personnel from Strategic Command, National Development Complex (NDC), Air Force Strategic Command (AFSC), Air Weapon Complex (AWC) and National Engineer and Scientific Commission (NESCOM) were involved in the test, the source said.

Sources also said that a joint delegation of Pakistan Army and Strategic Plans Division Force led by Director General, Inspection and Technology Development, had visited Turkey between May 31 and June 11, 2021.

During the visit, the delegation attended a technology briefing and took a factory tour of MS Bayktar. Post the visit, the delegation proposed two models of Bayraktar UAS for joint production in Pakistan which include Bayraktar VTOL UAS and TB2 UAS.

Further, the Drone Regulatory Authority of Pakistan is in the process of procuring a drone detection system named ‘Aartos’ from Aaronia, Germany.

This system primarily monitors drone/UAV traffic and is also equipped with navigational jamming capability.

The Pakistan Air Force is also exploring the possibility of integrating ‘Aartos’ with an indigenously developed wide band receiver. It has planned to install this system at five most sensitive and important places in and around Islamabad.

Further, a joint delegation of Pakistan Army, Pakistan Navy, Pakistan Air Force and the Strategy Planning Division (SPD) is presently in China to visit the NORINCO facility.

The Pakistan Air Force team will also evaluate the advanced High to Medium Altitude Air Defence System (HIMADS) with China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation (CATIC).

CATIC has a plan to deliver Wing Loong-II UAVs to Pakistan in 2021, 10 J-10CE fighter aircraft in 2023 and 10 Z-10 armed helicopters in 2024-25.

ALSO READ-High alert in TN, Kerala on possible drone intrusions

READ MORE-J&K bans drones in Srinagar

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NIA begins probe on Jammu AFS drone attack

An NIA team had visited the blast scene on Sunday to collect samples from the spot…reports Asian Lite News.

Hours after the Ministry of Home Affairs handed over the probe into the drone attack at an Air Force Station (AFS) in Jammu to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the NIA on Tuesday registered a case to probe the matter.

An NIA spokesperson said that the anti-terror probe agency, in pursuance of the MHA order, has reregistered the case under several sections of the Explosive Substances Act, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Indian Penal Code.

The official said that while the NIA has been working with the other agencies since immediately after the incident, pursuant to the re-registration of the case, requisite actions as per the law have been initiated.

An NIA team had visited the blast scene on Sunday to collect samples from the spot.

In a first of its kind terrorist attack in the country, two drones were used to drop explosives at the vital military installation on the intervening night of June 26-27. Two consecutive explosions took place within a gap of five minutes at the high-security Jammu Air Force Station, injuring two personnel on duty in the technical area. The drones later flew away.

In the two back-to-back explosions, which occurred at 1.37 a.m. and 1.42 a.m., the roof of a building was damaged. However, the explosives missed the aircraft hangar nearby. No valuable equipment was damaged in the attack.

The Air Force Station is about 14-15 km from the nearest point on the International Border (IB) with Pakistan. The farthest that a drone from Pakistan has come so far on the Indian side of the IB and Line of Control (LoC) in the Jammu region is 12 km.

Pakistan-based terrorists are suspected to be behind the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to attack the Air Force Station, officials said.

The attack on the Air Force Station took place a few hours after Jammu and Kashmir Police arrested an alleged Lashkar-e-Taiba operative with an improvised explosive device (IED) weighing nearly 5 kg in Jammu.

ALSO READ-Suspected drone attack at Jammu IAF station