Tag: drones

Nearly 400 Drones Target Moscow Overnight, With Zelensky In Washington Seeking To Sway Trump

Ukraine’s long-range drone attacks on Russian territory have long become a nightly thing (as have Russian drones and missiles on Ukraine territory), but it has become clear that these attack waves have grown in volume and effectiveness.

On Tuesday Russian officials are newly acknowledging another massive attack wave on the Moscow region, describing that nearly 400 drones were inbound on the capital overnight. 

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin indicated that 390 drones had been tracked by anti-air defense systems across the wider Moscow region since Monday night, but said that “most” of them were intercepted – with no forthcoming reports of casualties. 

One regional report cited some damage in residential and business areas, however:

In the village of Vaulovo, a private house caught fire in the “Dubrava” dacha community, and a dacha house was damaged in the “Romashkino” community in the village of Dubna. No one was injured.

A warehouse belonging to the logistics company 3PL caught fire in the village of Koledino in Podolsk, outside Moscow, following the attack, the independent Telegram channel Astra reported, citing photos and video from witnesses. A nearby Wildberries warehouse is operating “as normal,” the company reported.

Drones impacted other regions of Moscow, however, and left at least 19 people in the Belgorod region injured. The high rate of injuries was due to an intercity bus being struck.

Ukraine has continued targeting Wildberries warehouses and logistics hubs (the major Russian online retailer which is comparable to Amazon) – an escalating trend since July 18. So far nearly a dozen facilities have been hit across Moscow and the surrounding region, St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region, Voronezh, Tambov, Krasnodar, Stavropol Krai, and Crimea..

Crimea meanwhile continues to struggle to keep the lights on and gas supplies available for the population. Regional reports say power was knocked out for the city of Feodosia overnight, after an electric substation was struck.

Ukraine’s President Zelensky has been highlighting the ‘success’ of the country’s drone capabilities to Western backers, and is expected to carry the same message to Washington this week.

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Police Are Deploying 60 MPH Autonomous Drones to Read Your License Plate from the Sky

If you thought Flock Safety’s Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) were deeply invasive when they were just mounted to neighborhood stop signs and hidden inside speed trailers, you might want to look up.

The company that built a massive, interconnected surveillance net across American roadways has officially taken its technology airborne. As highlighted in a viral X post by Josh Walkos, Flock is rolling out “Flock Alpha”—a highly advanced, autonomous police drone designed to track vehicles and suspects from the sky.

Walkos perfectly captured the escalating nature of the tech in his post: “Remember when everyone was told Flock was ‘just reading license plates’? Anyway, here’s Flock Alpha, the autonomous drone.”

The “Drone as a First Responder” Play

Flock isn’t just selling a standard quadcopter; they are aggressively pushing a concept known as “Drone as First Responder” (DFR). Following a strategic partnership with aviation software company Aerodome, Flock integrated its existing street-level surveillance web directly into an autonomous aerial platform.

The specs on the Flock Alpha are undeniably impressive—and for privacy advocates, entirely terrifying.

When a 911 call, a gunshot audio sensor, or a street-level ALPR camera triggers an alert, an officer can deploy the Alpha drone directly from their smartphone. The drone launches itself from a weatherproof docking station and can reach the scene at speeds up to 60 MPH. According to Flock’s promotional materials, the drone arrives first on the scene 78% of the time, long before patrol cars can navigate traffic.

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Anduril Unveils Tiltrotor Killer Drone Straight Out Of ‘Terminator’

Palmer Luckey’s defense company Anduril Industries unveiled Thunder, an autonomous aircraft designed to deliver missiles, drones, electronic-warfare systems and cargo into heavily contested airspace.

“In this new era of maneuver warfare, we need eyes for what’s ahead and a shield for what we can’t afford to lose,” Anduril wrote in a tweet.

Thunder is a Group 5 autonomous attack rotorcraft, meaning it weighs more than 1,320 pounds, as shown in the UAS classification chart below, courtesy of Piper Sandler.

Anduril noted, “A first of its kind for attack aviation. A thunderous step forward for maneuver dominance.”

Thunder’s modular payload bays can carry configurations including 10 air-to-ground missiles, 16 Altius-600 launched effects, or 76 70mm rockets, plus 12 counter-drone interceptors.

Pairing three Thunders with a single Apache helicopter could triple the formation’s available munitions without putting additional human pilots at risk.

Anduril added, “Mass is only achievable if the platform delivering it is producible and affordable. The common dual-use baseline behind Thunder drives the economies of scale, expanded demand, and broad supply chains critical to drive down costs and de-risk the pathway to large-scale production.”

X users are pointing out that Anduril just made the “tilt rotor version of the Terminator Hunter Killer drone.“

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Two US Service Members Killed in Action in Jordan, One Missing in Action After Iranian Drone Attack

Two US service members were killed in action in Jordan this week.

One service member is still missing.

Full statement from CENTCOM:

On July 17, two U.S. service members in Jordan were killed in action as U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) and partner forces defended against Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks. Additionally, one service member is currently missing in action.

Four American service members were medically evacuated to Jordanian hospitals. They have since been discharged. Other personnel who were evaluated for minor injuries have returned to duty.

Out of respect for the families, CENTCOM will withhold additional information, including the identities of the fallen warriors, until 24 hours after the next of kin have been notified.

CBS News reported on Friday that several US service members were injured this week in Iranian attacks on two Jordanian bases.

US strikes have continued against Iranian missile and drone sites in and around the Strait of Hormuz for several consecutive days.

On Thursday, the US launched its sixth night in a row of strikes against Iran as Tehran struck Jordan and Kuwait.

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Ukraine/Russia War Intensifies, As Drones Strike Major Russian Oil Refinery

The war between Russia and Ukraine fell through the cracks a little when the United States and Israel started a war with Iran back in February. However, Ukraine and Russia are still very much locked in a war, as Kiev used drones to strike a major Russian oil refinery overnight.

Back in late June, Ukraine struck a Moscow refinery and caused “oil rain” to pour over the Russian capital of Moscow.

Drone Strike on Moscow Refinery Causes “Oil Rain” in Russian Capital

The Russian Defense Ministry added that Vladimir Zelensky, Ukraine’s ruler, ordered the attacks on the eve of the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) summit in Ankara “to demonstrate to his European sponsors, including the UK, his willingness to strike civilian targets in Russia from Ukraine at their expense.”

The UAV (unmanned aerial vehicles) attack occurred on the Omsk Oil Refinery in Omsk Region and is the first in central Russia since the start of the Ukraine conflict.

The Omsk Oil Refinery, which is operated by Gazprom Neft, specializes in the production of gasoline, diesel, aviation kerosene and road‑building bitumen. The refinery has an installed capacity of 20.5 million tons of crude per year. Omsk accounts for around one in every six liters of Euro‑5 gasoline and diesel fuel produced in Russia, as well as a significant share of the country’s aviation fuel.

Governor Vitaly Khotsenko wrote on Telegram on Monday that the facility was hit after several drones reached the city’s northern industrial zone.  Khotsenko said most of the incoming UAVs were destroyed by air defenses and that, according to preliminary information, there were no deaths or injuries, according to a report by RT. 

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Massive Security Blunder Exposes San Francisco Police’s Expanding Drone Surveillance

A major security lapse has exposed hours of live surveillance footage from the San Francisco Police Department’s drone program.

The footage offers a rare glimpse into the scale of aerial policing now taking place over one of America’s largest cities.

According to WIRED, two cybersecurity researchers discovered that live feeds from five SFPD drones had been publicly accessible through a web link generated by drone manufacturer Skydio.

The stream reportedly remained exposed for months before it was taken offline.

The leaked footage showed drones tracking suspects through city streets, monitoring apartment buildings, following vehicles, and assisting officers during arrests and investigations.

In one example, multiple drones tracked a suspect across San Francisco before officers surrounded and arrested him following what police described as an alleged vehicle theft-related incident.

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“Not Seen Since World War II”: New Texas Shipyard To Hire 10,000 Workers And Mass-Produce Drone Boats

Building on our coverage of autonomous maritime warfare this week, Saronic Technologies is preparing to build a massive shipyard on the Texas coast capable of producing autonomous surface vessels at scale, a project expected to create more than 10,000 jobs.

Bloomberg reports that the Austin-based technology company, which specializes in maritime drones, is building a $3.2 billion shipyard at the Port of Brownsville on the Texas coast. The facility will manufacture medium- and large-class autonomous vessels.

Earlier this week, the US military used Saronic’s Corsair one-way attack vessels in a swarm strike against a submarine and ship-maintenance facility at Iran’s Bandar Abbas naval base.

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REPORT: Russia Intercepts Western AI Drones Smuggled for Deep Strikes on Military Bases

Russian security forces have seized a cache of Western-manufactured, artificial intelligence-guided drones that were allegedly smuggled into the country for planned attacks on remote military aviation bases in the Ural Mountains and the Far East.

The Federal Security Service (FSB) announced Monday that operatives intercepted the hardware before it could reach the Shagol air base in the Chelyabinsk region and the Ukrainka air base in the Amur region. Several individuals involved in the transit operation have been detained.

Covert Smuggling Operation

According to the FSB, the drones first entered Russian territory using balloons and larger fixed-wing unmanned aircraft, landing in the Bryansk border region. Smugglers then concealed the devices inside specially modified trailers equipped with false bottoms, transporting them across the country disguised as shipments of household appliances, reported Sputnik.

AI-Guided Strike Capabilities

Russian authorities stated that the confiscated drones originated from the United States, Britain, Canada, and Sweden. Each unit was armed with more than one kilogram of explosives and featured advanced AI navigation systems engineered to evade Russian electronic warfare and signal-jamming networks.

Parallel to Ukrainian Tactics

The intercepted plot bears similarities to a 2025 Ukrainian operation known as “Spider’s Web,” in which trucks with retractable wooden roofs were used to transport and launch drones. That campaign reportedly damaged around 20 aircraft and successfully struck the Ukrainka base.

In recent months, Kyiv has intensified long-range strikes on Russian defense enterprises and energy infrastructure located deep inside the country. These attacks have taken major oil refineries offline, contributing to widespread fuel shortages.

Kremlin Accuses West of EscalationI

n response to the expanding reach of Ukrainian deep-strike operations, Moscow has sharpened its accusations against Western nations, claiming they are directly enabling the attacks.

Last week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declared that Western support for Ukraine had transformed Russia’s “special military operation” into a full-scale war.

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Mali Govt Says Al-Qaeda Extremists In Region Receive Training, Drones From Ukraine

The Malian government announced on Thursday that militant groups with links to Al-Qaeda carrying out terror attacks in the country were trained and armed by Ukrainian specialists.

Fousseynou Ouattara, Vice President of the Defense Commission of Mali’s Transitional Council, said authorities identified militants who received training in Ukraine to carry out operations using kamikaze drones produced by Kiev. “These young people are known, we have now added them to our lists, and we have their names,” Ouattara said.

The militants fighting the Malian government belong to a Tuareg-led separatist group, the Azawad Liberation Front (ALF), and Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimeen (JNIM), an extremist group linked to Al-Qaeda.

He added that the militant groups are receiving fighters from Algeria, Mauritania, and Libya, as well as training from members of the French Foreign Legion and Ukrainian instructors.

France is allegedly supporting the ALF and JNIM following the Malian government’s removal of French troops in 2022. In their place, private military contractors from Russia’s Wagner Group were deployed.

After a May 2021 coup in Mali, the country’s military junta officially demanded that France withdraw its troops “without delay.” French troops had been present in Mali for nine years, allegedly to fight the Al-Qaeda-linked insurgency.

Mali was a French colony known as French Sudan before it gained independence as the Republic of Mali in 1960. However, France has sought to reassert its influence in Mali and in neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger, which are also former French colonies.

In September 2023, the military leaders of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso established the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), which established a partnership with Russia.

Fighting between the Malian army and the ALF and JNIM has escalated in recent weeks. On July 7, the Malian army released a statement saying that “more than 200 terrorists were neutralized during coordinated air and ground operations” conducted in the village of Anefis in the northern Kidal region. The army statement noted that the operation was conducted in response to attacks by armed groups on military positions.

On July 4, Mali’s Ministry of Defense and Veterans Affairs announced that militant groups attacked army positions in Aguelok, Anefis, Gao, Kenioroba, Konna, Sevare, and Somadougou.

Clashes with the militants reportedly continue near Anefis, where a major Malian military base is located. On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his AES counterparts held a meeting in which they condemned destabilization campaigns supported by Ukraine and France.

Russia and the AES agreed to expand military cooperation, with Moscow pledging additional support to strengthen the operational capabilities of the armed forces of AES nations.

The foreign ministers of Russia, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso described the recent militant attacks on AES countries as “barbaric and ignoble” acts threatening regional stability.

“The two sides firmly condemned such destructive actions aimed at undermining the sovereignty of the AES and regional stability,” they said.

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The Drone Has Replaced the Tank

Military strategists are still fighting the last war while the battlefield has already changed. Every major conflict throughout history has been defined by a technological revolution. Gunpowder ended the age of castles. Tanks transformed World War II. Precision missiles reshaped modern warfare. Now we have entered the age of the drone. The military that cannot dominate the skies with unmanned systems will lose, regardless of how many tanks, aircraft, or soldiers it possesses.

South Korea has reached the same conclusion. Its Defense Ministry announced that it will train approximately 500,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines as “drone warriors.” Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back said every service member should become as proficient with drones as they are with their personal weapons. The plan calls for procuring 11,000 commercial drones by the end of 2026, expanding to 60,000 training drones by 2029, while also acquiring more than 20,000 low-cost combat drones by 2030. Seoul is accelerating production of loitering munitions, AI-enabled drone swarms, laser weapons, and microwave systems designed to destroy incoming drones.

They are responding to the lessons of Ukraine, where inexpensive FPV drones costing only hundreds or thousands of dollars routinely destroy tanks worth millions. The battlefield has become saturated with unmanned aircraft. Ukraine plans to manufacture roughly 7 million military drones in 2026 after producing about 4 million in 2025. According to Ukrainian officials, drones now account for the overwhelming majority of battlefield strikes, fundamentally changing military doctrine. Entire branches of both the Ukrainian and Russian militaries are now dedicated solely to unmanned systems.

A modern drone operator can eliminate armor, artillery, supply convoys, or individual soldiers from miles away while sitting in relative safety. Fiber-optic drones have largely defeated electronic jamming. AI-assisted targeting is reducing operator workload. Swarm attacks can overwhelm traditional air defenses that were designed to intercept aircraft, not hundreds of inexpensive autonomous systems arriving simultaneously. Ukraine has even developed interceptor drones whose sole mission is to hunt other drones, creating an entirely new layer of aerial combat.

South Korea is not alone. Russia formally established its Unmanned Systems Forces, with Ukrainian military estimates claiming the branch could expand from roughly 80,000 personnel today to more than 165,000 during 2026 and perhaps over 200,000 by 2030. NATO countries are pouring billions into drone production, counter-drone technologies, autonomous weapons, and electronic warfare. The United States, China, Israel, Turkey, and Europe are all racing to build domestic drone industries because they understand the next war will not be won by the side with the largest army. It will be won by the side that can produce, replace, and innovate faster than its opponent.

This is precisely why I have warned that the War Cycle is changing the global economy. Wars no longer require decades to build fleets of battleships or thousands of heavy tanks. A nation with sufficient manufacturing capacity can produce tens of thousands of drones every month. The barriers to entry have collapsed. Software updates now matter as much as ammunition. Engineers have become as important as infantry.

The defense industry is no longer limited to traditional contractors producing aircraft carriers and fighter jets. Semiconductor manufacturers, AI companies, battery producers, optics firms, communications specialists, robotics companies, and rare-earth miners have all become part of the defense sector. This is why governments are scrambling to secure critical minerals, expand chip production, and protect supply chains. They are preparing for a world where industrial capacity determines military survival.

Our computer has consistently projected that 2026 marks the acceleration of the international War Cycle. The military transformation unfolding before our eyes confirms that forecast. The next great conflict will not resemble Iraq, Afghanistan, or even the opening stages of Ukraine. It will be fought by autonomous systems, artificial intelligence, electronic warfare, and millions of inexpensive drones operating continuously across every battlefield. The drone has become what the machine gun was in World War I and what the tank became in World War II. Anyone who fails to recognize that reality is preparing for a war that no longer exists.

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