I wonder if a lot were pilots.
Reports from the guardian:
From the FT
Russia hitting EU trains etc.
Russian attempts to destabilise European energy infrastructure have been well documented but interference in transport networks has been less discussed.
The EU Agency for Cybersecurity published its first report on threats to transport in March last year. It said there had been “attacks against railway companies with an increasing rate, primarily due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine”.
It noted major cyber attacks by “pro-Russia hacker groups” on railway companies in Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Estonia.
The Czech cyber security agency, NUKIB, has warned of rising cyber attacks in recent years. “One of the last year’s prominent trends has been the growing interest of malicious attackers in the energy and transportation sectors,” it said in a report published in July.
České dráhy said it had “seen an increased number of cyber attacks on our digital infrastructure” and was “continuously strengthening” its cyber security.
Prague has become increasingly hawkish on Russian influence campaigns after it approved a law in 2022 that allows the government to take measures against foreign entities suspected of violating human rights or cyber crimes.
Yes I would.
I wouldn't consider it necessarily as "Ukraine tax" but rather a Defence tax. This is in Ireland's interests. A strong and safe EU is in Ireland's interests.
We are known as free-loaders when it comes to defence spending, I think there are other threads on this.
Putin's palaces. With the golden toilets, that would be fantastic.
If we cannot defend his own palaces it would really make him look weak.
Once it happens once in a western country by terrorists and I'm sure it will then you will see massive clamp downs on who can purchase drones etc. Imagine some terrorist used it let's say in England on a live premiership game or say when the king is at Buckingham Palace waving to the public. I can see something mad like that happening someday with drones.
I'd be very surprised if for components like this Russia can't source from China. It's not like the West have a monopoly on tech innovation and production… almost the opposite if anything.
That is why it is all more important to ensure that Ukraine wins soon. The longer the war drags on, the more prolific these weapons are becoming. It is only a matter of time before ISIS starts to send 3000km drones out.
So, and even worse proposition cos a GPS blackout around schools (a non starter but still) won't stop them & if it's self sufficient good luck with the authorities tracing back the owner til they claim responsibility, cos the rubble and ruined drone will probably yield nothing.
Yeah. If drones don't become highly regulated items by the decade's end, all because of these insanely possible use cases, I'll be shocked. Great to see Ukraine punching above their weight at the barbarians at their gates - but the future of these things looks scary.
Just to be clear about the AI. Ukraine has basically packed a whole computer into a drone with full GPS info normally aquired from a satellite via GPS. So no more need for traceable GPS on board a drone. Completely self sufficient. Knows the terrain and direction of travel its flying over without any external assistance. A self drive drone so to speak. No remote "pilot" required.
"In fact I'm surprised given the degradation of their resources, the Russians haven't turned to them more."
Russia having "dumb" drones using moped engines is one thing .. like the Iran Shaheed drones. But I imagine fully AI controlled autonomous Drones is another level altogether tech wise & would need Western Hi end tech that Russia cannot access due to sanctions .. but Ukraine has full access to.
And yes, terrifying. Ukraine rewriting modern warfare with essential experience of same that counts. With experience even the most advanced militaries ( eg US Army ) dont have. As you said issue is WHEN likes of ISIS and Al Queda etc get there hands on this type of long range tech. I am surprised that has not happened yet. This is why Macron/France are really fearful for the Olympics in Paris this summer
Was about to say same: if this is true and AI is being used in this fashion then suddenly drones become exponentially more dangerous and potentially cataclysmic in a western world already struggling to live with terrorism - domestic or otherwise - always nipping at its heels. You could be looking at a situation where that former disgruntled student in the US, instead of walking into a school with a gun, can simply pilot a drone into his classroom from the comfort of his bedroom, without anyone noticing before its too late.
When the dust settles, we could see a ramping up of drone & AI legislation to put some functional limits on the things. For sure we might be seeing the end of the era when you can just buy a drone from the internet alongside your groceries.
Terrifying to be honest. Right now they're being used by the good guys, but given how cheap and easy they seem to be to manufacture (compared to conventional weaponry), how long before the bad guys start exploiting them. In fact I'm surprised given the degradation of their resources, the Russians haven't turned to them more.
Also from that CNN article I posted above this post:
“From what we’ve seen, some of it is they’re striking targets that need a lot of Western technology and Russia has a much more difficult time procuring this technology,”
Now thats clever
And interestingly, in these drones they are fully utilizing AI. Which means the drones dont use or depend on GPS which is what is used mainly by the opposition to detect drones. The AI is a mapping AI that recognises the terrain its flying over as it goes toward its target. So for there journey to the target they are totally self sufficient. Apparently this is the reasons russians cannot find them
Absolutely fascinating & equally terrifying for all our futures if this falls into wrong hands:“Accuracy under jamming is enabled through the use of artificial intelligence. Each aircraft has a terminal computer with satellite and terrain data,” the source close to the drone program explained. “The flights are determined in advance with our allies, and the aircraft follow the flight plan to enable us to strike targets with meters of precision.”
That precision is made possible by the drone’s sensors.
“They have this thing called ‘machine vision,’ which is a form of AI. Basically you take a model and you have it on a chip and you train this model to identify geography and the target it is navigating to,” said Noah Sylvia, a research analyst at the Royal United Services Institute, a UK-based think tank. “When it is finally deployed, it is able to identify where it is.”
“It does not require any communication (with satellites), it is completely autonomous,” Sylvia added.
BTW - with this capability of Striking with drones up to 3000km and the persistence of same should definitely change the tune in Russia and Putin. Why? Well IF Russia takes more of Ukraine all that is ahead of Russia is this + insurgency + constant guerilla warfare on the motherland for ever. Ukrainians will not go away you know … to use a phrase from over here
The science nerd in me appreciates that graphic remembering about the Mercator Projection & they didn't just draw a perfect circle around the centre in Ukraine.
Interesting read:
Since the onset of Russia’s military aggression in 2014 and its full-scale war in 2022, Ukrainian citizens have consolidated their efforts and demonstrated remarkable unity in defense of their country.
Thousands volunteered for the Armed Forces, and Ukrainian women have not been an exception. They took up arms to fight for their country’s independence and personal freedom. Over the years, their numbers in the ranks of AFU only increased, the range of their positions became more diverse, and even uniform and protective ammunition for women has seen a rapid transformation.
https://war.ukraine.ua/articles/how-many-women-are-defending-ukraine-against-russia-s-invasion/
The 6 Russian bombers destroyed this morning in Rostov Region is just the beginning.Ukrainian Armed Forces now has the capability of drone strikes to 3000km. Russian oil infrastructure, airfields, Putin's palaces all on the menu.
A great haul. Ukraine needed some good news. Got to keep hitting russia. Refineries, airfields, drone factories…..all great targets.
That's what we need more of. Fingers crossed it's true. Goes to show the appalling state of Russian military defence organisation… how can a power that likes to flaunt itself as being a global leader, be hit time after time behind its own lines, in the same manner using the same tactics, by an adversary that IT has taken the war to? Its hard to imagine the US showing that much incompetence. Goes to show just how vulnerable Ukraine has made Russia… really hope they can keep it up.
Repairs to the facilities being hit, lost revenue as a result of refineries being taken out of action even temporarily, replacement costs of high tech military equipment (aircraft, AA, navy) must be absolutely massive when aggregated. And those are losses that would definitely not have been factored into this war by Putin - whatever about the cost of sanctions to the Russian economy, he clearly did not envisage the ability of Ukraine's own military inflicting such damage outside of the battlefield.
Personally, I would. I already send money to various Ukrainian causes anyway.
Could be very good news
We're spending billions on Ukrainian refugees
If we can find 5 billion for asylum seekers surely any country can find this money.
From the US through the backdoor.
In WW2, they came in two sizes. Goliath and Borgward. (Goliath is the small one)
Not particularly successful, folks tended to shoot at them on the way in. And, of course, there was that unmanned T-55 that was driven at Ukrainian lines a year ago.
estonia tracks down 1.2million shells, can the money be raised
https://shankar20.medium.com/estonia-finds-another-1-2-million-artillery-shells-for-ukraine-9eb6227577af
this week, both sullivan and blinken demanded that ukraine stop hitting targets insine russia, cant find the link right now, heck do they want ukraine to fight with its shoe laces tied togeather
So lets add the cost of many more millions of refugees from a Ukraine completely conquered, fleeing to the rest of Europe, added to even more refugees & economic migrants continually being filtered through by Russia via eastern European borders.
If you consider the overall cost of the above scenario, then taxes to aid Ukraine would be obviously cheaper in the long term, for both Europe & Ireland.
We don't have the politicians with the vision to do what's needed so it won't happen. Even the prospect of another 10 million possibly many more Ukrainians leaving their homeland in exile & arriving in European nations won't change western policy.
![Photo of [Deleted User]](https://we.vanillicon.com/v2/e050b53be62f0ae2404c620976170938.svg)
