This is the absurd way Moscow is protecting its frontline motorcycle units from Ukrainian drones

Russian soldiers have developed a lot of weird and interesting ways to protect their military vehicles from drone attacks but their latest attempt to ensure the safety of some frontline motorcycle units may be a bit lacking.

Several media sources reported on the new protection being added to some Russian motorcycles, but Forbes was the most prominent source to write about a growing trend online that shows how soldiers are using grills and cope cages to protect motorcycle units from the threat that drones pose to unarmored vehicles. 

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Why Moscow has begun using motorcycles in its assaults on Ukrainian positions across the frontlines of the war isn’t a difficult question to answer, Russia has lost tens of thousands of vehicles in its fight to conquer Ukraine and needs equipment. 

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The open-source Dutch intelligence group Oryx has been counting losses on both sides of the war through verifiable photo and video evidence, and it noted that as of June 5th, Russia has lost over 16,000 units of equipment and vehicles. 

Forbes’ David Axe pointed out in his reporting that Russian losses have led the Kremlin to equip its assault groups with more and more inexpensive civilian vehicles, something that has been seen in combat footage for months now. 

In March, a video of the Desertcross Chinese-made all-terrain vehicles being used in an assault on Ukrainian positions was released by the 60th Separate Mechanized Brigade according to Militaryni. The attack was not successful. 

Militaryni noted the “Russian convoy of four golf carts was neutralized on the approach with cluster munitions. Due to the lack of any protection, the infantry in it was hit by the wreckage.” It was a predictable end to such an assault.

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The Chinese Deltacross were referred to as golf carts in several media reports but they were a much more powerful assault platform for soldiers than what followed, specifically unprotected dirt bikes that carry an individual fighter into battle. 

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“Armies have been riding on motorcycles for more than a century—in other words, as long as motorcycles have existed. A fast, maneuverable and inexpensive motorbike is an efficient way for a courier or scout to get around the battlefield,” Axe wrote. 

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“The problem for Russian troops in 2024 is that, running low on purpose-built armored vehicles as well as larger civilian-style vehicles, they’re riding their unprotected bikes directly at Ukrainian positions,” Axe explained. 

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Swapping larger unprotected vehicles for smaller unprotected dirt bikes has cost Russia according to Axe, who listed out several instances where motorcycle units were soundly defeated. But it hasn’t stopped Russia from employing the vehicles. 

Instead of switching tactics, Russian forces have begun outfitting their motorcycle units with grills and cope cages to protect them from drones according to Militaryni, which did note the protected motorcycles would likely be used for logistical tasks

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Photos of the motorcycles published to Telegram by a Russian source showed that the vehicles in the images lacked seats in their sidecars, and Militaryni noted: “Given this, it can be assumed that such motorcycles are primarily intended for logistical tasks.”

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The idea is a sound one when trying to figure out a way to protect motorcycle riders on the frontlines but Miltatyni wrote “such a design will have little effect on the likelihood of the rider’s survival, as the rider will suffer fragmentation injuries in the event of a crash.”

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Whether motorcycle assault units will be equipped with similar protective measures isn’t known but Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute Rob Lee has reposted a video of a similar type of protective grill attached to the back of a Russian dirt bike. 

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Lee reported that Russian soldiers were “apparently placing screens on motorcycles to counter “ drones, which matches up with other reports about the protection being added to Russian combat motorcycles and dirt bikes. 

In April, Militaryni reported on the protective measures Russian forces to safeguard their Deltacross golf carts. These measures included grills like the ones now being seen on Russian motorcycles, as well as smoke bombs and electronic warfare systems. 

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On June 7th, reports began to emerge revealing the first video evidence showing a Russian motorcycle equipped with a cope cage had been destroyed by Ukrainian drone operators somewhere on the frontlines

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"Judging by the video, before being hit, the Russian motorcyclist was lost in unfamiliar territory. Ukrainian operators of a reconnaissance Mavic quadcopter saw him struggling to find the way and promptly dispatched an FPV drone which caught up with the motorcycle and hit it with explosives," wrote Defense Express.

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"That might seem to be the end of the story, but the fact is that despite all the absurdity of an idea to encage a motorcycle, it worked. After all, the clip following right after the strike shows the driver running away from his destroyed motorcycle," the Ukrainian military news website added.

Photo Credit: Telegram @defenseexpress_ua