Over a year ago, I noted that Russian anti-drone electronic warfare systems were arriving on the battlefield built into converted civilian vans painted in non-tactical white, straight from the factory. The huge antennas hardly helped them blend in with any sort of cover, so Russia’s fancy new anti-drone systems were easily spotted and destroyed by Ukrainian FPV drones. Here is the link and the applicable photo spread.
The very expensive antenna systems on these vehicles are painted the same basic white as the civilian vehicle that has been converted to carry them, or else painted in a similar ‘ghost gray’ color, while parts of them are just bare metal. In the clip below, the system has been secured in the bed of the pickup truck with orange ‘hi-vis’ ratchet tie down straps — for safety, one supposes.
But even if the crew had wanted to paint their system in a less-visible color, it is not clear that they could have, for it turns out there is in fact a paint shortage in Russia due to western sanctions. It was not just my imagination. For despite having plenty of oil, Russia never developed the ‘low tonnage’ chemical industries that turn refined oil into things like paint. Turns out that Russia has to import most of the stuff that goes into a can of tactical paint.
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