Military Drones Changing the Game

[Brad]

>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.

[littleman]

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

[rcjordan]

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

[ergophobe]

>>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.

[Travoli]

>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.

[rcjordan]

"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

[littleman]

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

[Travoli]

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

[Brad]

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.