#drone warfare

[captain-price-returns]

You will absolutely not be prepared for the logo that flashes at the end of this drone combat video

[kropotkindersurprise]

In case you were wondering how fiber-optic FPV drones work in practice, this shows it pretty well (these are the types of ads i get nowadays, hah). Most FPV drones are controlled by radio frequencies, which can be jammed or disrupted quite easily these days, using Electronic Warfare systems jamming frequencies in a general area, or directional drone jammers like these:

These fiber-optic drones however have an actual physical connection to the controller, so control can only be cut off by actually cutting the fiber-optic wire (or actually shooting down the drone, of course).

[enriquemzn262]

The new german Cobra 600 jet-powered interceptor drone, shown here equipped with a single Iris-T radar-guided BVR missile.

The twin-engine drone also shows space for two extra engines, most likely optional for heavier loads.

[victusinveritas]

Welp… this is about as cyberpunk as you can get.. and not in the cool way…

Vis slashdot.

[unitedfrontvarietyhour]

And now, liberals, on to some facts about your hero, Obama.

(Pt.2)

[trash-panda-kitty]

For most of history, war has had at least one brutal limiter.

Your own side pays in blood.

You send soldiers. Some die. Some come back broken.

Cheap drones and remote AI do not magically make war clean.

They do something worse.

They make war feel cheap to the people who order it.

You can now,

launch swarms of disposable drones instead of pilots

outsource analysis to a chatbot that never gets tired

wreck another country’s infrastructure from a continent away

run psychological operations through religious apps and social platforms

All while your own civilians watch the whole thing like a live-streamed video game.

You still kill people.

You still hit

schools

hospitals

apartment blocks.

But you do not have to face your own dead in anything like the same numbers.

War has become an ongoing service.

You renew it in multi-year budgets and treat it as an instrument, not a last resort.

That is where we are right now.

War as a Service: Cheap Drones, Cloud AI, and the Vanishing Cost of Killing

When war is just drone swarms, cloud dashboards, and push-notification psyops, restraint dies first.

[kkutabaaree]

Calculated Harm: Attacks on Emergency Responders in Ukraine

The data [in the report by the Truth Hounds] clearly shows that Russian attacks on emergency responders in Ukraine have formed a sustained pattern that harms those who carry out civil defense, disrupts rescue operations, and weakens civilian protection.

The report shows that attacks on emergency responders increased over time and reached their highest recorded number in 2025. Most incidents occurred in frontline areas. The attacks did not remain confined to those areas. They also reached cities farther from the front, showing that this pattern has a broad geographical reach.

Drones became the dominant weapon in incidents affecting emergency responders, and their use rose sharply in 2024 and 2025. That shift matters because many drones allow operators to observe an attack site in real time. Emergency responders wear distinctive uniforms and operate clearly marked vehicles that visibly identify them as emergency services personnel. Therefore, attackers’ use of drones with real time video feeds strengthens the inference that emergency responders, at least in some cases, came under intentional attack.

The report identifies recurring types of attacks, primarily double-tap strikes and attacks on fire stations, but also drone “hunting” of emergency operations vehicles, attacks on evacuation and pyrotechnic teams, and attacks during large-scale environmental shocks.

Double-tap strikes are a military tactic where the first strike hits a particular target and subsequent ones are directed at emergency responders arriving at the scene. Truth Hounds identified 200 incidents that bore the hallmarks of double-tap strikes and verified 92, mainly through open-source analysis.

Those verified cases caused at least 20 deaths and 108 injuries among emergency responders and damaged or destroyed at least 76 emergency vehicles and 3 civil defense buildings. In more than half of those verified cases, drones carried out the second strike. In most cases, an initial strike hit or landed near a civilian object, and responders who arrived to help then faced the follow-up strike. These attacks do more than kill and injure. They interrupt rescue work, delay debris removal, deepen fear among civilians, and force responders to work under the constant threat of another hit. In such cases, these types of attacks function as a tool of terror, prompting fear and hopelessness.

The number of verified double-tap strikes.

Attacks on fire stations is a second major pattern. Fire stations are critical operational hubs and vital spaces for civilian life in conflict. Truth Hounds documented 138 incidents that damaged or destroyed fire stations, while SES data indicate a much larger overall toll. Most of these attacks occurred close to the frontline, and some stations were hit repeatedly. In Nikopol alone, we recorded more than ten such incidents. In most analyzed cases, researchers did not identify a stationary military facility within 300 meters of the station, which supports an inference that the stations themselves may have been the intended targets. These attacks matter because when strikes damage or destroy fire stations, they degrade emergency capacity over time, weaken local resilience, and leave civilian communities more vulnerable to both wartime and ordinary emergencies. Such attacks may also exacerbate forced displacement, and, in combination with other measures, may be used to pressure leadership into making political or military concessions.

Distribution of incidents resulting in the damage or destruction of fire stations by year.

The report examines how Russian and pro-Russian sources disparage and vilify Ukrainian emergency responders. Truth Hounds identified 169 posts on 26 pro-Russian Telegram channels that commented on Ukrainian emergency responders. Many posts threatened responders directly. Others portrayed the SES and its infrastructure as military targets, accused responders of working with foreign fighters or NATO, or used dehumanizing language and calls for violence. Official Russian sources largely stayed silent about attacks on emergency responders and their losses. In that context, these Telegram channels offer important insight into a discourse that may help explain or reinforce the targeting pattern documented elsewhere in the report.

The report also shows how these attacks have reshaped emergency work in Ukraine. In some frontline communities, war-related calls now dominate daily operations. Emergency responders must change routes, suspend work, shelter during operations, and rely more heavily on jamming systems, drone detectors, armored vehicles, and robotic tools. These burdens can delay rescue, prolong fires, and leave civilians trapped for longer durations. The attacks also impose serious physical and psychological costs. Some responders have suffered permanent injuries or lost the ability to continue working. Many others live with sustained stress, anxiety, and fear linked to war itself and to the risk of being killed while trying to save others.

The report finds that attacks on emergency responders in Ukraine may amount to war crimes, including attacks on civilians and, in certain circumstances, attacks on civilian objects under the Rome Statute. It also argues that some attacks may violate the prohibition on acts or threats of violence whose primary purpose is to spread terror among the civilian population under Article 51(2) of Additional Protocol I. We recognize that any final criminal qualification depends on the facts and evidence in each case.

[traceamountsoftimetravel]

3/18/2026

"Drone Hunters of Kherson"

From the YouTube description:

Produced by former U.S. Navy pilot Kenneth Harbaugh and Charlie Sadoff, with executive producers Denver Riggleman and Sebastian Junger, Drone Hunters of Kherson puts viewers on the front lines of Ukraine’s efforts to defend its citizens against russia’s drone onslaught. Since russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, russia has targeted Ukraine with more than 57,000 drones. Drone Hunters of Kherson follows Ken Harbaugh, the first American to embed with elite Ukrainian counter-drone units – the 11th “M. Hrushevskyi” Brigade, the 34th Coastal Defense Brigade, and the 30th Marine Corps – as they protect Kherson and Odessa from russia’s indiscriminate drone attacks.