Maliuk's operation Spiderweb scared the US — what do they fear?

In the United States, the military and experts are very concerned about the successful SBU operation "Spiderweb", which destroyed part of the strategic aviation of the Russian invaders. The media is increasingly discussing the amazing effectiveness and low financial costs compared to the consequences of the attack, as the same could happen in the United States.

In its analytical article, Newsweek reports the details of the concerns.

The main fear is China

After the SBU hit the Russian strategic aviation at the distance of more than 4,500 km in the deep rear, the debate among American military analysts about the possibility of a similar attack that could be carried out from Chinese merchant ships in American ports has intensified. 

Especially since there are many containers of the COSCO Shipping company, which is China's state-owned shipping giant, in key ports of the United States.

"This is a very plausible form of attack in the U.S. The drones need to get out of the container, and that's hard to control aboard a ship. A more feasible approach would be to deploy the drones from a container once it's offloaded and moved on a truck," Bryan Clark, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and a former U.S. Navy officer, said. 

Retired Navy commander Thomas Shugart, now a fellow at the Center for a New American Security, issued a more pessimistic warning.

"It is becoming borderline-insane that we routinely allow ships owned and operated by DoD-designated Chinese military companies to sit in our ports with thousands of containers onboard and under their control," he said in a conversation with Newsweek.

According to the March report of the Atlantic Council, the experts reminded that China has developed and demonstrated containerised missile and drone platforms that can be secretly transported aboard commercial ships.

In addition, military experts have highlighted that Ukraine's operation Spiderweb demonstrated how swarms of low-cost, off-the-shelf drones can cause billions of dollars in damage to strategic military assets, including long-range bombers.

Now, in Congress, lawmakers have begun pressuring the Coast Guard to provide stricter screening of foreign vessels, crews, and cargo.

As a reminder, AiTelly engineers explained how Ukrainian special services were preparing to attack Russian airfields during operation "Spiderweb".

Also, according to the New York Times, the operation "Spiderweb" was planned secretly from the United States.