Russia's plan to stop sea drone attacks with floating barriers has an obvious flaw, expert says

• Ukraine has been deploying new sea drones to attack Russian ships and bridges, reports said.

• In response, Russia has put up floating defenses to protect bridges or ships.

• But Ukraine can easily overcome those by launching a double-drone strike, an expert told Insider.

Russia has deployed floating defenses next to a Crimean bridge to fend off Ukrainian drone attacks, according to the independent Russian news outlet Mash, but they may have one obvious flaw.

The boom defenses, which have been around since World War II, will prove useless if Ukraine decides to counter with multiple drone strikes within a short space of time, Stephen Wright, a drone technology developer told Insider.

Similar to anti-torpedo nets, boom defenses are physical barriers or nets that either encircle potential targets in the sea or cross the mouth of a harbor or a strait for protection against drones.

The defenses were deployed after Ukraine unveiled a new sea drone that is designed to attack ships in Russia's Black Sea fleet.

The Ukrainian-designed surface drone, which carries hundreds of pounds of explosives, was used last month to successfully damage the Kerch Bridge, according to CNN. The bridge was a key supply route between Russia and Crimea, which was annexed by Moscow in 2014.

Wright told Insider that Ukraine can easily counter the boom defenses by launching a formation attack.

"So you can imagine the way you would counter a boom is you have two of these drones going in. The first one goes in, blasts a hole in the net, and the second one follows and hits the target," he added.

"But this will only escalate, and Russia will then try to defend itself again by placing a second net, the third net, and so on," he said.

Wright also said Russia's use of booms in the conflict is "uncannily similar to a method that battleships were using in the Second World War."

"During the Second World War, it was almost standard practice that as soon as the battleships stopped moving, you'd put your nets out quickly to stop exactly this sort of thing happening," he added. "It's interesting to see this kind of warfare being adapted in the 21st century."

Ukraine is already using the double formation tactics in the sky, Wright said, referencing the recent attacks in Moscow which are believed to have been carried out by multiple long-range "Beaver" drones that are targeting the same area at once.

His comments come amid reports that Russia is adapting to weapons and assets Ukraine is getting from Western partners and slowing down its counteroffensive.

Drones are increasingly playing a key role in the conflict and have proved invaluable for both sides.

"We will definitely see a rising sophistication in the way these systems are used — by both sides," Wright added.

Read the original article on Business Insider