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Shaheds, Lancets, fiber-optic FPVs and the counter-drone scramble — Russia’s drone war, tracked.

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Overhead black-and-white view of a DJI Phantom quadcopter surrounded by folding DJI Mavic drones and other multirotors arranged on a white surface
Russia

Russia’s Geran-5 Jet Drone Uses Western Electronics

Ukraine’s defense intelligence agency GUR says Russia has deployed a newly identified jet powered attack drone called the Geran-5, a platform that departs sharply from earlier Geran models derived from Iran’s Shahed series, Business Insider reports. Unlike the familiar delta wing layout of previous Geran loitering munitions, the Geran-5 uses a traditional fixed wing airframe.…

Ukrainian soldier with DJI Mavic 3 drone. Photo courtesy of Ukraine Ministry of Defense.
DJI

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry announces homegrown DJI Mavic replacement with longer range

Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s newly appointed Defense Minister, has announced that Ukrainian troops will begin fielding a domestically produced replacement for the Chinese-made DJI Mavic drone. The homegrown alternative promises the same camera quality but with extended flight range, marking a significant step in reducing Kyiv’s dependency on Beijing-manufactured reconnaissance drones. The Developme

Russia Recruiting 12,000 North Korean Workers For Shahed Drone Factory At $2.50 Per Hour
Ukraine

Russia’s Shahed Production Surge: Ukraine’s Top Commander Warns of 1,000 Drones Per Day by 2026

The numbers from Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi are stark: Russia currently produces 404 Shahed-type drones daily and plans to more than double that capacity to 1,000 units per day. That production target, revealed in an interview published Sunday by Ukrainian media outlet LB.ua, would represent a five to six-fold increase in Russia’s ability…

From TV Producer to Tank Destroyer: How Ukraine’s Secret Drone Unit Eliminated Billions in Russian Equipment
Ukraine

Lasar’s Group vs. NATO’s Drone Crisis: Inside Ukraine’s ‘McDonald’s’ Model That Europe Is Desperate To Copy

The Wall Street Journal just obtained something no Western media outlet has managed before—camera access inside the command center of Ukraine’s deadliest drone unit. What they found wasn’t a scrappy volunteer operation anymore. It was an industrial-scale killing machine that runs 24 hours a day, destroying Russian equipment at a rate that’s made its commander…

Eric Schmidt's AI Drones Hit 70% Kill Rate as Commercial Tech Goes to War
DJI

Eric Schmidt’s AI Drones Hit 70% Kill Rate as Commercial Tech Goes to War

The drone skills you learned for your Part 107 business are now battlefield capabilities. That’s the uncomfortable reality buried in a massive New York Times investigation published this week, and it should concern every commercial operator in America. C.J. Chivers spent 18 months reporting from Ukrainian frontlines, test ranges, and drone workshops. What he documented…

Shahed Drones Now Shoot Back: Russia Arms Kamikaze With MANPADS
Ukraine

Shahed Drones Now Shoot Back: Russia Arms Kamikaze With MANPADS

We have been tracking the evolution of Russia’s Shahed drones since at least the invasion of Ukraine, and the latest development is the most significant tactical shift yet. Just five weeks after they strapped an R-60 air-to-air missile to a Shahed, they’ve done it again, this time with a MANPADS. This isn’t experimentation anymore. This…

Inside Ukraine’s Drone Unit Redefining Naval Warfare
Ukraine

Inside Ukraine’s Drone Unit Redefining Naval Warfare

Ukraine did not defeat Russia’s Black Sea fleet with destroyers or submarines, it did it with remote controls, fiber optics, and engineers who learned faster than their enemy expected. When Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, Ukraine effectively lost its navy, and when the full scale invasion began in 2022, the imbalance at sea looked permanent.…

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