Rostec, a Russian state owned corporation, has stated that it has successfully conducted trials of armoured plating for key infrastructure projects. The armour is specifically designed to protect against drone attacks, grenades and gunfire.
Rostec said each plate weighed 30 kilogrammes and that such plates could potentially be fitted on oil and gas storage facilities, ammo depots and energy infrastructure.
It said the plates could offer protection against FPV (first-person-view) drones, small drones originally produced for personal civilian use, but which have been modified for battlefield use.
Ukraine has stepped up its attacks on oil refineries in Russia, the world’s second largest oil exporter, since the start of the year in an attempt to reduce Moscow’s energy revenues and the amount of money it has to spend on the military.
Russian companies have been working to devise ways of protecting infrastructure from such drone attacks and, in some cases, says they have deployed giant meshed metal nets to cover oil refineries.
On May 9th, as Russia celebrated victory day Ukraine carried out a drone strike most likely after modifying and converting the Ukraine-made Aeroprakt A-32 Vixxen or the A-22 Foxbat on a one-way mission to an oil refinery nearly a thousand miles away. Hitting the target, although not causing a lot of damage as the Russian side claims that the production from the plant was not hampered. The Ukrainians had hit another Russian oil production unit in Tatarstan, some 1,300 KMs from Russia in April.
A Russian energy ministry official told a parliament meeting in March there were also plans to defend oil and gas facilities with missile systems.
Ukrainian air force said Russia launched two Iskander-M ballistic missiles and six Shahed drones in an attack on Ukraine in the early hours of Thursday. The country’s air defence forces have claimed to have shot down six drones launched by Russia over four separate regions.
(With inputs from Reuters)
