>clay pigeon shooting

For the near term anybody who is good at that will be high on the recruitment list.

I'm waiting for 12 gauge Gatling shotguns to be developed.

Fully Autonomous Weapon Systems - The technology, capability and controversy of robots at war [video lecture].  This could have gone in the terminator thread too.

https://www.politico.eu/article/moscow-under-attack-air-defenses-shoot-down-killer-drones-over-russian-capital/

Moscow under attack: Air defenses shoot down killer drones over Russian capital – POLITICO

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Debbie says this wasn't a drone, but -damn- it is scarily awesome.

https://old.reddit.com/r/UkraineWarVideoReport/comments/1exjy3f/ukraine_attacks_russian_pontoon_bridge_in_kursk/

Ukraine attacks Russian pontoon bridge in Kursk : UkraineWarVideoReport

>>Moscow under attack

I mentioned in the books thread that I just finished reading Eric Larson's The Splendid and the Vile, about Churchill's first year as PM, from May 1940 to May 1941. It's a good read and I definitely found myself thinking of Ukraine while reading it.

This reminds me, though, of how important Churchill thought it was to hit Germany. He wanted the German public to know that war had consequences. Even though the RAF could not in the early days match the Luftwaffe punch for punch (partly because the Germans had developed guidance beams the British didn't have and partly because the Germans could take off from France), the bombings cheered the British people and created challenges for Goebbels and the propaganda machine.

Well worth a read

>>Debbie says this wasn't a drone

That looks like artillery or aerial bombardment. That was a lot of ordnance.

>ordnance.

The US has supplied Ukraine with cluster munitions, and Ukraine is now manufacturing their own larger & longer-range drones. They are most likely capable of delivering a cluster bomb like this. Inexpensively.

"Jesus now they have dragons." ^{-- /r}

https://old.reddit.com/r/ukraine/comments/1f74vg1/a_ukrainian_drone_drops_molten_thermite_on_a/

A Ukrainian drone drops molten thermite on a Russian held treeline, setting it ablaze. : ukraine

This video is long, but it gives a good view of the challenges at the Ukraine<->Russia front line including drones and the counter measures.  It was filmed from by an American veteran of the Iraq war.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ox9_V-APOGg

Takeaways from the March 2026 60 minutes piece on Drone warfare:

-Ukraine drone innovation cycle is 1 week
-Drone efficiency is key for Ukraine. Cost to kill each Russian soldier is now less than $1000.
-The US Military is learning from Ukraine. It now has dozens of drone labs around the world. Any service member with an idea or any interest can request to spend time in one of the labs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHLgNencz3o

I read somewhere that Estonia (and maybe Finland) are adding drone flying to their school curiculum so that all kids graduating from high school will know how to fly drones.

The small state university in my town constructed a new drone training arena enclosed on all sides & top with chain-link fencing. We've seen classes using it this year.

Seems like "drone pilot" will be a short-lived career field with AI taking over shortly. Drone designers and mechanics are probably good for a while.

> "drone pilot" will be a short-lived career field with AI taking over

I agree, but there may be a large SMB demand --jobs too small to call out the corporate drone army.  It's big in real estate, farming , & surveying, etc and maybe that'll provide a few jobs.

The short videos of the Ukraine war on social networks have evolved over the years since the war started, previously they involved hunting Russian vehicles and troop columns but now many of them show suicide drones hunting individual Russian soldiers. It's 1st person shooter stuff and even though I have little sympathy for the Russians I can't watch these because you see that Russian soldier desperately trying to evade or sometimes just giving up to their fate. You see their faces.

>drone pilot

The thing is, detached, when you see the skill of the Ukrainian drone pilots, flying through woods, around fallen trees, fences, brush, through buildings, windows, down tunnels and culverts all to hunt down just one man, that flying skill is quite amazing and AI ain't there yet.  Then there are costs per drone, a drone with AI makes sense to pick bigger targets like factories and expensive war machines but right now costs to much to hunt individuals.