Free Republic

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...

A division within the FBI is asking defense contractors to report incursions by “unmanned systems” — including unidentified anomalous phenomena — that could pose a threat to U.S. national security. NewsNation special investigative correspondent Ross Coulthart has obtained a flyer produced by the FBI’s Office of the Private Sector announcing a new initiative to report unmanned systems such as drones and underwater vehicles that could pose a threat to defense facilities and “critical infrastructure” sites. The document notes an increase in “incursions over recent months” and says the unmanned systems “may be intended to disrupt operations or gauge U.S. response...

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — At a secret location in rural Ukraine, columns of attack drones are assembled at night and in near silence to strike deep inside Russia.Their targets are strategic: oil refineries, fuel depots, and military logistics hubs. Since the summer, Ukraine’s long-range drone campaign has ramped up dramatically, pounding energy infrastructure across Russia and stretching Moscow’s air defenses thin.Built from parts made in a scattered network of workshops, these drones now fly much further than at any point in the war.Officers in body armor move with quick precision; headlamps glow red to stay hidden. Engines sputter like old...

Key PointsUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Shahed drones now pose a greater challenge than ballistic missiles, requiring the use of interceptors, F-16s, and helicopters.The Armed Forces are deploying helicopters and modified civilian aircraft to intercept drones and preserve limited missile defense stockpiles.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Iranian-designed Shahed drones now pose a more persistent and unpredictable threat than ballistic missiles, forcing the Armed Forces to use a wide range of countermeasures under increasingly difficult operational conditions.“Shaheds have now become more dangerous in some cases than ballistic missiles,” Zelenskyy said during a press briefing, according to Suspilne. “We can shoot down...

The containerized demonstrator has already been successfully tested several times. The weapon could also be equipped with greater capabilities and be used to destroy supersonic guided missiles. Rheinmetall/Wikimedia Commons ==================================================================== Ademonstrator laser weapon, which can fry enemy drones, has been delivered to Germany. The weapon is expected to be deployed for operational use starting in 2029. Developed by Rheinmetall and MBDA, the laser weapon could serve as a powerful and cost-effective addition to conventional guided missiles. The weapon’s effectiveness and precision have been proven under real operational conditions in over 100 firing tests. High-energy laser weapon system for maritime use...

Police were taking down narcotics smuggling at the airport. The cartels fought back hard. There's outright open warfare in the streets of Rio. The drug cartels are using drones to fight.

The "bucket drop", invented by a missionary trying to airdrop gifts to natives in Ecuador, would let warplanes release a swarm of drones and lasso them back. The warplane of the future is a drone mothership, able to dispatch swarms of small air-launched UAVs for close-up reconnaissance, to act as jammers or decoys, or even to carry out airstrikes. Those drones may be cheap enough to be expendable, but what if you want to recover them? The Air Force has the answer, using a technique developed by a 1950's jungle pilot and missionary. Researchers are now experimenting with ways to...

General Atomics is exploring laser armament options for drones across its portfolio, including its new Gambit family of autonomous combat aircraft. General Atomics via Carter Johnston =============================================================== General Atomics recently showed what it says is a rendering of an MQ-20 Avenger drone armed with a laser directed energy weapon. The laser beam is depicted projecting through a fully rotating nose cone turret fitted in place of its normal nose section. The company says this is a purely conceptual design, but it reflects a broader exploration of potential laser armament for uncrewed aircraft across its portfolio, including members of the highly...

"Vladimir Putin has ordered massive, near daily missile and drone attacks which are devastating Ukraine's capacity to fight on. Brian Berletic of The New Atlas and Alexander Mercouris of The Duran join the show to break down the military and diplomatic shockwaves being sent through the West as Ukraine crumbles, as well as a new war being declared by Donald Trump that is leaving the world in shock." Not sure what the claim of a new war is about....

A private company at a high-powered Army conference demonstrated a unique aircraft at the event — and allegedly took responsibility for setting off last year’s drone and “UFO” pandemonium in New Jersey, a source told The Post. At the Army’s UAS and Launched Effects Summit at Fort Rucker in August, a private contractor conducted a live demonstration of a manned aerial craft that wowed the crowd with its unconventional appearance and unorthodox flight-movements, an attendee told The Post. “You remember that big UFO scare in New Jersey last year? Well, that was us,” an employee of the unnamed contractor claimed...