Free Republic

NATO’s tactic of using AMRAAM missiles against cheap decoy drones, the Gerbera, in the event of a large-scale war could lead to a rapid depletion of weapons stockpiles.The exact “net” price of these missiles is not disclosed. However, an analysis of contracts for sales to US allies shows that their cost ranges between $1.5 and $2 million....In 2017, the Netherlands agreed to sell 26 AIM-120C-7 AMRAAM missiles under a contract worth $53 million. This amounts to approximately $2 million per unit, excluding additional components of the deal (gross)....In 2019, the U.S. State Department approved the sale of 180 AIM-120C-7 missiles...

U.S. forces shot down an Iranian drone that flew towards a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea on Tuesday, U.S. Central Command confirmed. The military said the drone "aggressively" approached the USS Abraham Lincoln as it was crossing through the Arabian Sea roughly 500 miles from the southern coast of Iran and "unnecessarily maneuvered" toward the ship. U.S. Central Command spokesman Capt. Tim Hawkins said the drone continued to flew toward the carrier "despite de-escalatory measures taken by U.S. forces operating in international waters." The drone was shot down by a F-35 fighter jet, and no American service...

FBI Director Kash Patel said on Oct. 15 that the agency is cracking down on espionage by foreign adversaries, with an increase in arrests as high as 50 percent. “We have gone after espionage activities against our main counterparts in China, Russia, and Iran,” he said at a press conference. “In China alone, we’ve had over a 50 percent increase in espionage arrests alone, and prosecutions,” Patel said. “In Iran, we have had a 50 percent increase, again, in espionage cases. And in Russia, we had a 33 percent increase in espionage cases alone.” State Department employee Ashley Tellis, arrested...

Nearly 16,000 drones formed the largest synchronized display ever recorded. The performance earned dual Guinness World Records for drone coordination achievements. China replaced fireworks’ chemical combustion with digitally programmed light choreography. Liuyang, often called the “fireworks capital of the world,” has added another milestone to its history. About two weeks ago, nearly 16,000 drones took to the sky in what is now the largest synchronized drone display ever recorded. The show involved 15,947 units, each following a programmed flight path to create towers, blossoms, and a glowing “Sky Tree.”.. Coordinating thousands of lithium-powered flying devices requires exact precision, and any...

While reports have identified the Jiutian as a “general-purpose drone,” concepts have shown it releasing drone swarms with a range of surface and maritime strike munitions....Notably, the drone has a 6 ton payload capacity for either munitions, drone swarms and humanitarian relief material. A concept video on CCTV 14 from May 2025 shows a group of Jiutians releasing swarms of hundreds of smart quadcopter-like systems and other winged attack drones. These were then shown coordinating and overwhelming the U.S. Navy’s aircraft carriers and supporting battleships, clearing the way for anti-ship ballistic, cruise and surface strike missiles. Footage in the same...

SEOUL, Jan 12 (Reuters) - South Korean authorities have launched an investigation focused on the possibility civilians may have flown drones that North Korea said violated its ‌airspace, the Defence Ministry said on Monday. President Lee Jae Myung has vowed a swift ‌probe and said on Saturday if civilians had indeed operated the unmanned aircraft, it would be a "serious crime" that threatened South Korea's security and peace on the Korean peninsula. South Korea is ⁠willing to jointly conduct ‌the investigation with North Korea but has not made the proposal, a defence ministry spokesperson said ‍citing Minister Ahn Gyu-back. North...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has reported severe conditions across multiple regions following intensified Russian strikes on critical infrastructure. According to his shared X statement on January 11, he confirmed that attacks have disrupted electricity, heating, and water supplies during freezing winter temperatures. He detailed a significant escalation in the volume and variety of Russian weapons used over the course of one week. Additionally, he stated that Russia launched almost 1,100 attack drones, more than 890 guided aerial bombs, and over 50 missiles. These included ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and the Oreshnik medium-range ballistic missile.

The US used a mystery sonic weapon that brought Venezuelan soldiers to their knees, “bleeding through the nose” and vomiting blood during the daring raid to capture dictator Nicolas Maduro, according to a witness account posted Saturday on X by the White House press secretary. In a jaw-dropping interview, the guard described how American forces wiped out hundreds of fighters without losing a single soldier, using powerful technology unlike anything he has ever seen — or heard. “We were on guard, but suddenly all our radar systems shut down without any explanation,” the guard said. “The next thing we saw...

The FBI on Friday morning raided the home of a high-ranking DEA official under Barack Obama and charged him for conspiring to launder millions of dollars for a Mexican drug cartel. The Feds charged former DEA Deputy Chief of the Office of Financial Operations Paul Campo and friend Robert Sensi for conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. Paul Campo and Robert Sensi were charged with narcoterrorism, terrorism, narcotics distribution, and money laundering charges. Campo and Sensi were arrested on Thursday afternoon in New York, according to the DOJ. Campo and Sensi agreed to launder $12 million...

Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) said it has struck a Russian submarine in the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk using underwater drones, calling the operation a major breakthrough in naval warfare. Ukrainian authorities released video footage showing a near-surface explosion alongside a vessel, which Kyiv claims was a modern Russian submarine valued at up to $400 million. According to the SBU, the attack was carried out using “Sea Baby” underwater drones, a Ukrainian-developed system designed for stealth operations against naval targets. The agency said the blast left the submarine critically damaged and unable to operate. “This is the first time a...

Military strategists have long compared warfare to chess, where grand masters plot moves and countermoves across a global board. But what happens when you discover you’ve been studying chess while your opponent has been perfecting an entirely different game? For decades, America’s military might has stood unchallenged, our aircraft carriers projecting power across every ocean, our technology the envy of the world. Yet behind the Pentagon’s classified doors, a disturbing pattern has emerged in recent years. The rise of China as a military power has transformed from a distant concern to an immediate challenge. While American forces remain spread across...

Drones are increasingly menacing the skies above, whether as buzzing nuisances destroying a scenic locale’s peaceful vibes or wielded as a kamikaze drone spreading terror. As such, world militaries are intensely interested in anti-drone weaponry right now. Take the latest demo from the British Armed Forces to take down these suckers: shooting them out of the blue with a powerful laser beam. The country’s Ministry of Defense recently tested the DragonFire laser at a facility in Scotland, according to a statement, where it was able to successfully shoot down high speed drones that “fly up to 650 km/h [404 miles...

FOUR UNIDENTIFIED MILITARY-STYLE drones breached a no-fly zone and flew towards the flight path of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s plane at sea near Dublin Airport late on Monday night, The Journal has learned. The plane landed, slightly ahead of schedule, just moments before the incident happened at about 11pm. The drones reached the location where Zelenskyy’s plane was expected to be at the exact moment it had been due to pass. The drones then orbited above an Irish Navy vessel that had secretly been deployed in the Irish Sea for the Zelenskyy visit. Sources have said that the drones took...

What’s Actually Happening Most of you already know what’s going on, but just in case you don’t: under the current rules, a government agency has to perform a security audit on DJI. If they don’t complete one by December 23rd, DJI automatically gets placed on the FCC’s Covered List. The truth is, no agency wants to be the one to step forward and take on that responsibility. There’s no incentive. There’s actually political risk. There’s liability. So the most likely scenario is that no audit is going to happen and DJI gets listed by default. It’s an underhanded way to...

Adding thousands of metal "hairs" to a tank helps to protect the tank from first-person-view drones The Russians first fielded these hairy "hedgehog" tanks this fall Now the Ukrainians are building their own hedgehogs, hoping to reduce the impact of Russian FPVs In their never-ending effort to protect armored vehicles from the tiny first-person-view drones that are everywhere all the time all along the 1,100-km front line of Russia's wider war on Ukraine, Russian forces have introduced a number of bizarre innovations. The resulting "cope cages" and "turtle," "porcupine" and "hedgehog" tanks are ungainly and, frankly, ugly. But they work....

The aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford and three warships have been sent to the Caribbean, where they are joining a dozen Navy warships already off the coast of Venezuela, in an unprecedented show of military force. President Trump and his administration are taking aim at the administration of Nicolas Maduro, over his alleged role in the drug trade which presents a national security threat to the United States. It’s clear that if the US succeeds in destabilizing and displacing President Maduro’s regime, it would be a blow to the region’s drug traffickers. What is less known is that it would...

Ukraine releases videos of their naval drones striking 2 Russian shadow fleet oil tankers off the Turkish Black Sea coast

Kirill Dmitriev — Vladmir Putin’s special envoy and head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund — is suddenly ubiquitous. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has been largely quiet since his maximalist negotiating approach with Team Trump failed. Moscow, presumably largely guided by Lavrov, after winning a concession on Tomahawk missiles, opted to continue Putin’s hardline demands for ending the war in Ukraine ahead of the proposed Trump-Putin summit in Budapest. NATO would have to admit that it was the root cause of the war. Kyiv would have to cede all of the Donbas, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine would...

First comes the warning, that disembodied voice over the tannoy: "Your attention please. Air siren in the city. Please move to the shelter on the minus second floor." Then comes the mosquito-like whine of the incoming Russian drones, massing in their hundreds just above the clouds. It's followed immediately by the rattle of anti-aircraft fire, the distant thud of explosions, then finally the ominous klaxon call of ambulance and fire sirens. This is the grim reality of night time in Kyiv and other cities across Ukraine. These are attack drones that explode on impact. Drones are now an integral part...

South Korea’s ousted conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol faces more criminal charges on Monday as prosecutors allege that he flew drones over North Korea in a deliberate bid to stoke tensions and justify his plans to declare martial law. Yoon set off the most serious political crisis in South Korea’s recent history when he imposed martial law on Dec. 3, 2024 and sent troops to surround the National Assembly. He was later impeached and removed from office, and is in jail standing trial on charges including masterminding a rebellion. His successor and liberal rival, President Lee Jae Myung, approved legislation...