The Russian military destroys 60% to 70% of Ukrainian maritime drones, but despite this, the effectiveness of these drones as a weapon is high. This was stated by the head of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov in an interview with the Radio Liberty project Krym.Realii.
"For obvious reasons, it is impossible to say how many drones there are. Let's just say it's a lot. How effective is it? Since there are real losses, and the price of such a drone and the price of a warship are incomparable, we can say that this is a fairly effective way. But, of course, they destroy 60%, maybe even 70%. However, the problem for them is the remaining 30%," said the head of Ukrainian intelligence.
Budanov gave an example when one of the destroyed drones was destroyed near a Russian ship and the vessel went "for a long repair."
"For example, the story when sea scooters entered the waters of Sevastopol Bay. There was a well-known case. It was destroyed. It was destroyed on the approach to the frigate Admiral Essen, right on the approach. If you look at this situation at first, it seems to be unfortunate. But the blast wave (because it was destroyed about 100 meters from the ship, and the charge was quite powerful) and the debris completely damaged the ship's radio-electronic equipment, some electronics, antennas, certain systems and the hydroacoustic system. And it took 3.5 months to repair. It was in the dock for three and a half months," Budanov said.
The head of the DIU calls naval drones an effective means of deterrence, but not offense.
"But the goal of paralyzing the fleet's activities, which, in the end, in principle, has already been achieved. The ships do not go further than the Sevastopol raid in the northern direction at all," Budanov emphasized.
