The military, investors and entrepreneurs discussed it at the Warsaw Drone Summit. The conflict has demonstrated the effectiveness of drones in both combat and reconnaissance
The conflict has slipped into a period of friction, interrupted only by Russian missiles, Ukrainian raids, and the Western narrative of an imminent counter-offensive on Kherson and the country’s southern regions. Drones, arms dealers, western supplies remain in today’s military notebook.
Washington, Kyiv and Warsaw are creating a “Valley of Drones” in Poland, a regional technology and innovation laboratory for a fast-growing sector already worth $11 billion and could reach $17 billion by 2028. The Warsaw Drone Summit just wrapped up with government officials, military, investors and industrial entrepreneurs like Bernard Hudson, former director of counterterrorism at the CIA and now CEO of Looking Glass – a specialty company based in Virginia – which hosted the conference in cooperation with the Kiev Department of Human Resources digital transformation and the local Ukrainian organized embassy. Research will not only be limited to drones, but also to software and technologies necessary for reconnaissance, for data analysis and integration, for information processing.
The conflict in Ukraine has also demonstrated the effectiveness of drones in modern warfare, both combat and reconnaissance. The latest episode dates back a few days when the Russians reported a drone strike on the Sevastopol naval base in Crimea, where the Black Sea Fleet is based: the strike – which was never officially confirmed by Kyiv – allegedly caused 5 injuries and led to the cancellation the naval party. Using drones – the American ones like the Swtichblade or the Turkish Bayraktar Tb-2 – the Ukrainians certainly kept Snake Island under pressure, eventually managing to hunt down the invaders and often getting behind enemy lines, hitting vehicles and positions , ammunition depots and even targets on Russian territory.
Thanks to the “Unmanned Aerial Vehicles” – remotely piloted aircraft – the resistance, with the help of NATO, has spread a fishing net that stretches from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea, allowing it to spy on the enemy and understand movements in advance. Instructions, orders of the generals of the army. Even the Russians, especially in this last phase of the conflict, resorted to Orlan 10 reconnaissance drones used in support of artillery fire: they are inexpensive, numerous aircraft that overcome the defenses and help correct the aim. . Moscow has also asked Iran for drones: the Pasdaran specialize in the sector now crucial in conventional and asymmetric conflicts, but it’s not yet clear if they will supply them to the Kremlin.
Among the mysteries of this war is the explosion that damaged an ammunition depot in Karnobat, Bulgaria in recent days. The owner of the company, Emilian Gebrev, denounced this, claiming that the material had been ordered but not paid for because the buyer preferred to keep it secret. Now the story has its own fascinating setting. The businessman was at the center of a possible poisoning in 2015 when his facilities were allegedly the target of sabotage. Actions that have raised suspicions of possible involvement by Russian intelligence, particularly Gru Unit 29155, military intelligence. The teams conducted covert operations to prevent arms shipments to Ukraine, but in some cases limited themselves to threats and warnings.
These maneuvers are dictated by the great need to have sufficient supplies to support artillery duels. Yesterday in the new US aid package, in addition to the “usual” Himars, there were two important items: an unspecified number of ammunition for long-range rocket launchers and 75,000 shells for 155mm guns. A few weeks ago, according to calculations by American officials, the Ukrainians fired 3,000 artillery shells a day: if they maintained this rate, the last stock would be used up in 25 days.
Aug 2, 2022 (Modified Aug 2, 2022 | 5:36 p.m.)
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