Over the four years that Ukraine has been fighting to repel Russian forces from its territory, its country’s battlefields have become scarred by airstrikes, pockmarked by artillery fire, and littered with the wreckage of cheap aerial drones. The conflict has transformed the economics of modern warfare – with both sides now reliant on these unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to monitor the battlefield, evade defences and strike deep into enemy territory. The fighting has so far kept Russia bogged down, trapped behind frozen frontlines, allowing Kyiv to remake the country’s industrial…
Tag: Drones (military)
Russia’s war in Ukraine carries a warning for Australia: prepare for possible conflict in the Asia-Pacific
Military experts and diplomats agree new strategies and tactics – drone-based or otherwise – playing out in Ukraine’s theatre of war may be replicated closer to home Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast It’s early morning at the sprawling 32 Tactical air base in Łask, a couple of hours outside the Polish capital of Warsaw, and the late autumn wind is sharp. Nearby, a crew of Australians are wrapping up the deployment of an E-7 Wedgetail surveillance plane, sent to the country to assist Nato’s…
When Elon Musk’s ‘flying sofas’ give Ukraine internet access, we can’t sit comfortably | John Naughton
In February 2022, as Russian tanks rumbled into Ukraine, a cyber-attack took down the satellite system run by Viasat that was providing high-speed communications for Ukrainian military forces, rendering them instantly blind, deaf and dumb. With his forces knocked offline, the Ukrainian digital minister sent a plea to an American billionaire, one Elon Musk, for help. Within hours, Musk responded that his Starlink system had been activated in Ukraine. Days later Starlink terminals began to arrive. Pause for context update. Musk is the founder and Supreme Leader of SpaceX, an…