Grid warfare. A case for Ukraine as an example of how best not to attack Russia.

Putin’s Russia is massing up at the border. We are all looking at his fighters, aircraft and artillery pieces. And he knows we are watching. So do you think he’ll move them very soon? No, he won’t. He’ll keep the play going in that areas. And neither will he use any of his satellites – military or civilian. Because his command network for this op. is organic, and layered like a cabbage – so broadcast request imagery could be achieved and let “simmer” through the ranks by many other means.

Does he need communication towers? No. He will avoid them at all costs. Meanwhile, he will have fun lobbing jammers around as a decoy and as part of the big deception. After all his audience love Russian materiel aesthetics, so why not keep the theatre going.

The Ukrainian army has stretched itself out. The Navy is out of the picture and the air force is game to all kinds of missiles – mobile or fixed, any time they took to the sky. The attacking force are forced to commit to ground. So what next?

He will further tie down resources and him deploy to launch from the black sea. He will flank to initiate something that looks like a three prong attack from the south – away from Russia. Jassy-Kishinev or revive the 40th Army – hit anywhere and everywhere until all is backed into the plains of Germany.

Otherwise, what is the need for all those submarine cables in the Black Sea if you can’t use theme to tap into surrounding networks. What is the use of having all those pipelines all over the place if you can’t use them to tap into radio networks on land, all over Ukraine and neighboring countries?

We expect a drone to launch an EMP to cook up all electronic device or switch off lights before an attack. But no need, he is already hooked up into the grid system from Crimea and through pipelines all over Europe?

KISS – keep it simple and stupid or whatever they call it in Russian. A hacker or a programmer inserted a pulse or music timer simulating computer virus in the grid or via an email to a couple of Ukrainian officials (civilian or military) target a gas company, a dam or water provider or any of those public service institutions. Russians has too many hackers.

Then monitor comms and activities of everybody in the vicinity – from the Black Sea countries to Germany, Poland and back. Plug in a coffee maker, a hair dryer, radio set, microwave, tv, beat up on your wife, move a troop or whatever…your name, id, location, conversation etc. comes up loud and clear.

Even the most up to date electronic warfare gadget (commonly used to evade the DEA and FBI by drug lords) is not impervious to being picked up. Unless you don’t have an electric shaver, a blo dryer, a phone charger or a socket to plug into.

A set of terrain hugging Hinds might be good enough to serve as an AWAC, but does he really need it when he is already waging war by other means and forcing everyone to commit to ground.

So if you see an animal in the field in Ukraine, a wall gecko, a deer, a green tortoise, a dog, a cat, a fly or even a snake in any of the Black Sea countries, I implore you to please look at it carefully and all over again, it might be a Russian drone – primed to gather info in real time and attack if necessary.

Mr. Putin’s idea of drones, their make up and deployment is different from anything we have ever seen. The techs who cooked up diamond in their labs are at work again.