In The News

Samuel Bendett says, Kyiv had a “strategy to demonstrate Ukrainian capability. Last year Ukraine lacked a lot of the capability to strike deep inside Russia. Starting late last year and all of this year, Kyiv has demonstrated that it has the technology, the UAVs and the drones, to actually bring the war to the Russian territory. A lot of Russian military and civilian targets were struck, along with attacks on civilian territories, in a response to Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilians.”

Samuel Bendett says, the reason for fingering this as a likely scam is a matter of history. Scams are hardly unusual in the Russian drone business. “As far as siphoning off funds goes — anything is possible.”

Samuel Bendett says, “We’ve now seen in Russian media that these are in fact domestic assembly, and there are changes introduced in the design based on their own needs. This is indicative of Russians trying to come up with a drone that’s just as capable as the original Shahed that could then be scaled up in significant quantities.”

Jason Thomas says, “Specifically during the Global War on Terror, smaller vessels came to influence a range of operations, from combatting pirates to deterring terrorists.”

Samuel Bendett says, “Unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) are essential elements in providing militaries with underwater surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities. They can essentially dive at different depths, they can carry different sensor packages—such as cameras for observation—or they can potentially be armed for combat.”

Samuel Bendett says, “The Middle East is already dealing with the drone threat and the growing sophistication of drone attacks in many countries. There is an emphasis on having cUAS tech address threats from large, medium and small drones, both military grade and those made from commercial technologies. Its a safe long-term assumption that the cUAS market in the Middle East is going to grow.”

Michael Kofman says, “What I see in that military is that it's just very uneven. It's very uneven because there are folks that have come from civilian life and some have had a bunch of training and some had very little."

Samuel Bendett says, "The whole point is cost. These are extremely cost effective."

David Finkelstein says, “Whatever is happening with the former leadership of the P.L.A., Rocket Force will remain mostly opaque to the outside world. Either way, the message to the force will be: ‘No one, however high in rank, is beyond the long reach of the party when lapses in discipline have occurred.’”

Samuel Bendett says, “Over decades, non-Russian high-tech systems and technologies became more advanced and really have become industry and global standards. So, a Russian military, as well as its civilian economy, have become dependent.”

Samuel Bendett says, “Ukraine made an operational decision to strike at Russian logistical and supply lines, supply chains, facility warehouses, etc., to really try and degrade Russian forces stationed at the front. This is a long-term project. The results will not be visible right away, but we are seeing some spectacular successes.”

Ralph Espach has said, “China’s military outreach to Latin America bears watching but is not yet cause for alarm. Meetings and agreements have increased … but China’s weapons sales are insignificant, and it does not have the presence that other countries do, particularly the United States.”

Jonathan Schroden wrote in a tweet, “The fact that the (seemingly) most substantive talks between the US & the #Taliban since the signing of the Doha deal in 2020 didn’t even register as a news item here makes clear where #Afghanistan stands on the US list of priorities these days.”

Samuel Bendett says that it is difficult to define "winning" despite Ukraine's apparent success in striking "deep into Russia's heartland."

Samuel Bendett says that Russian state media have also reported that residents working in the financial district are now staying home, rather than venturing into the area.

Samuel Bendett says, “The Ukrainian defense industry is learning and adapting very quickly.”