In The News

Samuel Bendett says, “It’s hard to judge how this drone will perform against significant and sophisticated countermeasures that exist in the region. It’s likely that just like Mohajer-6, this drone is presented for export.”

Dmitry Gorenburg says that Prigozhin being murdered by Russian forces could be viewed as a message for others to not defy him and the Kremlin in the future.

Samuel Bendett says, The most recent attack is "embarrassing, since the strategic bombers were not in any type of shelter or cover."

Ken Gause says, “It’s like everybody is doubling down on everyone’s positions, which means nothing is going to happen.”

Samuel Bendett says, “This can be used against stationary and moving targets – anything from tanks, armored vehicles, artillery and other systems, to infantry units on the move and in trenches, and against any target that is identified as a Russian military one.”

Samuel Bendett says, “If this Izdelie 54 is a ‘long-range’ drone, it will probably have to compete more with Shahed, but it all depends on specs. It's possible that this new drone will fill the gap between Lancet and Shahed capability - with a range of 80-200km, or may be designed for even longer ranges.”

Samuel Bendett says, “The fact that the ruble is weak is not necessarily affecting the military-industrial sector. It is not necessarily affecting the acquisition and development of technologies. It may impact regular people down range. Right now the Russian economy appears to be holding as recognized by multiple global experts and as recognized by the international community. The economy is bent but did not break.”

Jonathan Schroden says that life for Afghans under the Taliban varies greatly depending on their gender. Afghan men face less violence since the end of the war, but they are likely in a much worse economic situation. Meanwhile, women and girls are suffering the almost total loss of any freedoms they may have enjoyed before the Taliban came to power.

Scott Decker says, "We don't have a category in the way we measure crime in this country that identifies smash-and-grab, so it's really hard to know how many of these events take place or whether there's a surge."

Samuel Bendett says, “This is Russia’s response to the Ukrainian attacks against Russian military ports.”

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.”