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No one has discussed the darker implications of this attack. That could be us, here, in North America.

There are foreign & domestic enemies watching, waiting, taking notes, digging into refining that tech every single day. It's not just a Russia and Ukraine thing, but all over the world. Right now. There are rinky-dink nations in Africa that I've barely heard of who even have air superiority, on the cheap. Those drones are to the 21st century what the availability and utility of the AK 47 was in the 20th.

A pop-up attack like this is straight up alarming. A bunch of funky old bomber planes in Russia this time. Next time - our refineries, telecomm, power distribution/transmission, water infrastructure? All of it is sitting there for the targeting, by anyone who doesn't like us. Manage to disrupt infrastructure in major metro areas, can have people eating each other in a week's time, not to mention the sort of disruption to the rest of the nation since many a large metro city is a through point if not point of origin for a lot of products and services which are broadly relied upon. As bad as a lot of those places suck in terms of culture and society they still play major roles in commerce for our economic stability. Many an adversary would find that sort of risk to benefit ratio quite appealing. The question is what are we doing about such a threat. Are we on a rapid war-time footing to counter it or still under the thrall of prioritizing multi-million dollar weapons platforms built by the lowest bidding contractor that are already outmatched and outdated before even being fielded.

You ask very good questions. Disturbing ones. Very good observation re drones being the new AK-47, too.

What will we get from the new increased Pentagon budget? Based on what I’ve read so far, it’s what you fear. :(

I hope they will rethink how all that money is spent.

No one has discussed the darker implications of this attack. That could be us, here, in North America.

The attack is possible due to shipping containers that either weren't inspected at entry, or got in due to incompetence or bribery. That's what this attack demonstrated. Free trade can be exploited by terrorists, or saboteurs.

No one has discussed the darker implications of this attack. That could be us, here, in North America.

You are absolutely right! But I would request that you explore that in a separate thread you, yourself, initiate. Otherwise, you could roil the issue by portraying the Ukrainians as employing some sort of "ominous" or "disturbing" technology. Let's not forget: The Ukrainians were fully within their rights in attacking this purely military target (the Olenya air base) and destroying aircraft destined for use against Ukrainian cities.

I share your sentiment and hope fervently that U.S. military experts are watching, learning, and drawing the appropriate conclusions for our own defense. But let's not muddy the waters and/or imply that Ukraine is somehow the "bad guy" here for making use of an innovative tactic to defend their homeland.

Regards,