Ukraine War Upd. EXTRA: Russian MOD Lies, Drone Innovation & Threat
Table of Contents 📖
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"The age of the armed drone swarm is upon us."
Hello Team!
Jonathan starts the video by mentioning he will discuss the Russian response to the Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow and then talk about drones in general. He hopes this video will be shorter than his previous ones today.
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Russian Foreign Ministry statement on Moscow drone attack
Jonathan reads a hypocritical statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry condemning the Ukrainian drone attacks on Moscow on 30th May. He points out the double standards, given Russia has been attacking Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure with hundreds of missiles for over a year. The ministry claims the drones had no military purpose and were intended to cause panic, which Jonathan disputes based on their own admission the drones were taken out by air defences and fell on residential buildings accidentally. He dismisses the statement as "embarrassing projection".
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The disruptive innovation of drones in warfare
- Ukraine has disruptively innovated a 500km range propeller cruise missile drone capability that can be launched from the back of an SUV for the cost of a TOW anti-tank missile.
- A single truck with 3 operators could launch a swarm of 25 drones and penetrate Moscow airspace in 90 minutes for a cost of $1.3-1.9 million. This is hugely significant.
- Ukraine has trained 10,000 drone operators, around 1 per 100 servicemen. In an offensive, hundreds of these operators could send waves of drones every 10-15 minutes to overwhelm Russian air defences and strike key infrastructure like rail lines hundreds of kilometres behind the front lines.
- Ukraine has bought up the entire global supply of Chinese racing drones to convert into attack drones, a smart economic warfare move that denies them to Russia.
- The age of drone swarms as a predominant military weapon has arrived, a "dreadnought moment". There are not enough air defence systems in the world to stop 50-100,000 small drones in the hands of Ukraine's 10,000 trained military drone operators.
How Ukraine's IT sector is transforming the country into a military innovator
- Before the war, Ukraine's IT companies were making the country an emerging digital leader. Now they are also making it a military innovation leader.
- Ukrainian startups and volunteers have rapidly developed new drone, robotics, AI, VR and other technologies for military applications. The number of drone manufacturers increased 5-fold in the first 6 months of the war.
- Examples include naval drones to guard against Russian missile ships, demining robots, and VR battlefield video systems.
- The government has launched initiatives to fund and accelerate military tech development in partnership with the private sector. Foreign investors are taking notice of the potential.
- Historically, defence R&D spending has been a key driver of innovation with many spin-off benefits. The same will likely happen with Ukraine's wartime innovation boom.
Wrap up
Jonathan wraps up by saying he wanted to keep this video a bit shorter as viewers probably have other things to do than look at his "stupid face" all day. He appreciates everyone's support.
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