'Spider Web' attack: nothing new?

There is a mass of recent reporting on the long range Ukrainian drone attack on Russian Air Force bases and I was reading a comment elsewhere it was "nothing new" - which cited WW2 Allied Special Forces attacks in North Africa. Interesting enough to add here I thought.

One BBC News article on the how: How Ukraine carried out daring 'Spider Web' attack on Russian bombers

A 1995 RAND report for the USAF 'Snakes in the Eagle's Nest: A history of ground attacks on Air Bases', which covers Crete (by the Germans), North Africa (by SAS) pgs. 37-67, and attacks in Thailand & Vietnam. See: https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/monograph_reports/2006/MR553.pdf

An investigation into the attack on Camps Bastion, Leatherneck, and Shorabak in Afghanistan, on 14-15/9/1982. See: https://www.hqmc.marines.mil/Portal...on Attack Investigation Executive Summary.pdf Published 15/9/2012.

 

Yes Special Forces attacking airfields is definitely nothing new (the last UK one being Pebble Island I guess), but it's certainly true that launching dozens of small drones from the top of trailers is a new (and cost effective) method.

The confirmed destruction of eleven irreplaceable long range bombers (seven Tu95 and four Tu22), plus one An12 transport by the Ukrainians, for what probably only cost them tens of thousands of pounds worth of drones and no life's, is a spectacular result.

Regards,

Steve