The unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) used in the attacks on Russia’s facilities in Syria bear a resemblance to certain types of equipment used by the US military, according to Erdoğan Karakuş, a military analyst and retired Lt. Gen. of the Turkish Air Force.
Saying that regular drones are usually capable of carrying and dropping only low-yield explosives, the analyst told Sputnik Turkey, "UAVs which are capable of dropping bombs and projectiles used in airplane strikes are in service with the US military. A regular drone can carry an explosive device that can utterly destroy a vehicle of terrorists. However, for these attacks, much more powerful drones were used."
Recently, the Russian Defense Ministry published new photos of the terrorist drones, showing three handcrafted UAVs made from boards and plywood, with wires, wrapped in tape and green polyethylene. The ministry said the design used by the militants could only be obtained from a technologically advanced country. The suggestion was disputed by the Pentagon saying that such devices are "readily available" on the "open market."
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Commenting further of the possible source of such technology, Karakuş said, "This issue needs to be thoroughly examined. But one thing is for certain – the drones used in these attacks don’t resemble any drones used by other countries, except for the US."
After releasing the photos, the Russian Defense Ministry also warned about the danger of such attacks in any country in the world.
"With the development of technology and the increasing availability of resources, the number of such drones [used by terrorists] can grow. It appears that the attack [on the Russian military facilities in Syria] was well planned and coordinated," he said.
Karataş explained that such attacks are designed to increase the probability of hitting a target even if a certain number of drones are taken down.
"A drone of this type cannot carry a powerful bomb, but this is not what terrorists really want to achieve. Terrorists carry out such attacks to attract global attention to themselves," the analyst said.
Earlier this month, the Russian military reported that terrorists attempted to attack Russian military positions in Syria with combat drones that had been disrupted on January 6.
Ten of the drones targeted the Hmeymim airbase and three were sent toward the Tartus naval base. As a result, three of the 13 drones were brought to the ground in a controlled area outside the base, while three UAVs exploded after colliding with the ground and seven UAVs were destroyed by Pantsir-S air defense missile systems.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the analysts and do not necessarily reflect the position of Sputnik.