In The News

Samuel Bendett, agreed that the Shahed drones were “relatively loud and have a distinct sound in flight”, and that the app could be useful as part of Ukraine’s layers of defence. “Every bit of data can help to pinpoint the origin and trajectory of the attack.”.

Jonathan Schroden says that he had not heard of the Russians recruiting Afghan commandos prior to Foreign Policy’s story being published, but the idea of using Afghans as a proxy force to fight outside the country is not new. The Iranians sent thousands of Afghans to fight in Syria in recent years as part of the “Fatemiyoun Brigade.”

Samuel Bendett says, “It is capable of extracting or delivering attrition and damage when launched, but it costs little compared to other UAVs that Russia has in its own arsenal."

Samuel Bendett says, “While Ukrainian air defenses have shown some success against the drones, even a few slipping through can cause havoc. It's a demonstration of Russian capability, and now they have cheap plentiful weapons that can constantly remind Ukrainians that their skies are not 100 percent safe."

Samuel Bendett says, “Their permanent departure from the Russian labour pool or from the Russian economy can have detrimental effects.”

Samuel Bendett says, “And while its range is about 1,000 kilometers (621 miles), the Shahed is being used in Ukraine at much shorter ranges. That’s because its GPS guidance system — which is vulnerable to jamming — isn’t very robust.”

Samuel Bendett says that Beijing “was probably concerned that it would have to face heavy sanctions and a very strong US response if it transferred this type of military technology [to Russia]”.

Ken Gause says, “We missed the boat on denuclearization,” and “The failure in Hanoi was our last best chance for the near term. You have to freeze the program. That’s the best you can do.”

Samuel Bendett says, “It is a response to the Ukrainians’ very successful counter attacks, Ukrainians’ successful advancements against Russian forces in the east and south of the country and Russia’s realization that it must do something to try and stop this advance and cause a certain level of attrition.”

Cornell Overfield writes, “The governance of the Northern Sea Route competes with the extension of continental shelves for the title of most contentious and widely misunderstood aspect of Arctic law.”

Cornell Overfield writes, “The governance of the Northern Sea Route competes with the extension of continental shelves for the title of most contentious and widely misunderstood aspect of Arctic law.”

Samuel Bendett says, “Attacks on major cities that are supposed to be well-defended against aerial threats demonstrate that Russia still has the capacity to inflict damage, whether military or civilian targets are struck.”

Sam Bendett says, “The Shahed-136 relies on a small civilian motor and commercially available GPS systems, making it vulnerable to jamming and relatively easy to bring down. Russian troops have taken to nicknaming the drones “mopeds."

Samuel Bendett says, “all of that accumulative experience over many decades is basically resulting in a current Iranian drone lineup. Russia really doesn’t have that long-term expertise.”

Samuel Bendett says, “Going forward, the United States and its allies should expect to face a variety of different threats from ranging drones and loitering munitions that can fly for hundreds of kilometers to small quadcopters.”

Anya Fink says, "For Russia, nuclear weapons, in particular non-strategic nuclear weapons, are really intended to counterbalance what they see as U.S. and NATO conventional superiority."