60 comments

  1. The V-I flying bombs that the Germans rained down on Britain were just like these (but bigger and faster).
    They didn’t have the desired terrorising effect on the English population, either.

    1. @rationalguy Thanks for that correct information, I had always thought that the German V1 was piloted, but now I see that the Germans did test a version they named the Reichenbergs, where test pilots were all killed during testing, so they dumped that version. Maybe that is how I ended up thinking that all V1 bombers were piloted. Thank you again for correcting me, you are correct 👍

    2. @Andrea Taylor They had several very pilot-hazardous ideas . Including a rocket interceptor plane that sometimes dissolved pilots alive with corrosive fuel.

  2. There are high tech systems that will defend cheaply and effectively Laser systems.
    But even an old AAA will kill this drone easily if used correctly.

    1. @dreamcoyote Long comment, but good job.
      I think the solution should be Laser, Iron dome is expensive, also there are more cheap solution that will do the job, AAA guns like the German “Gepard” AA Gun. Excellent if u ask me.
      And basically, all the old Soviet Air-defense are good for that: “Shilka”, “Tunguska”, ZSU.
      But all that from the ground, a modern Air-force will destroy them with Fighters long before they come close.

    2. @OS Issue there is the line of sight problem, also while these may be be termed ‘aircraft’ they have a much smaller footprint, operate much lower and are often not targeting military installations. I don’t know the specs on them, but if use laser to ?fry the navigation controls, they could have a hardwired altitude sensor that just makes it kamikazi wherever it is.

    3. AAA was good at firing at Messerschmitts flying at 10,000 ft, but these drones fly at 100 ft, so are from one horizon to the other in a few seconds. There is not sufficient time to crank the AAA that fast across the sky.

    4. @Hi Scifi I think in Ukraine they can get a warning pretty quick, if the drone is in low alt., than your can hear it, the citizens on the borders and front lines are alarming the Army about an attack, these Drones are SO SLOW! 160 MPH, that will take them hours to reach deep in Ukraine!

      There is time to set an AA, the skill of the AAA gunner should take place and when shooting at it, he must aim a bit forward from the drone.

      That’s not hard, the Ukraine Army did that most of the Drones are down, even in high percentage of 83%.

    1. @Julian Ahhh Kim … he has a great new Tailor …put Tony B to shame … did you like 5 ICBM’s across the Japan’s bow … pluss new supersonic cruse … seems he is still upset .. Japan per war tried genocide and got 15 % population .. What really ticks him off USAF with pics bragging using fire bombs not one building standing .. not emotional pizz .. more of a Klingon style … a dish best served cold

  3. I really don’t expect Russia to get many more of these drones. The only place for Iran to get the components for these drones are from China, and China just had the majority of their chip manufacturing shut down. While Iran may be able to send Russia another shipment, Iran won’t go so far as to compromise their own stockpile. Putin’s army is going to suffer this winter.

    1. @Umen Human *you* have a tendency to not understand context of *we* ergo the rest of that word salad doesn’t follow. 😂

    2. @TangomanX2008 Almost every point you make is correct, CCP one child(male) being one to raise some debate.
      I really would like for you to, refute my point about the long game, being their goal.

    3. @ben wu there is one big change. The US and other nations no longer see China as a good business partner they can or should work with.

      As fat as its attitude towards Taiwan, I agree that its policy on it, “one china” etc hasnt changed and that China has, which makes China the one who is trying to Change the status quo.

  4. As a Russian citizen I can only express my condolences to all Ukrainians. I was am and will be against this hell in Ukraine. Several generations will be clearing this mess for decades…

    1. @AfroSyrianDude 🇸🇾 Remember what happened in Greece a few years ago? Their far-right neo-nazi political party was dissolved. This is how democracies work. People are not that stupid, and the loud minority of political hooligans can’t dictate the political future of solid democracies. Even in the United States, where the losers tried to overthrow an election. I don’t think you truly understand how democracies work, especially in countries with more educated people.

    2. @𒀭𒂗𒆠 well, USA isnt democratic first off
      And the greek far right party was banned and hunted down by the government
      I dont think you know the difference between
      REPUBLIC and DEMOCRACY

    3. @AfroSyrianDude 🇸🇾 Then tell me. Do you know that both concepts are not mutually exclusive? There are, for example, democracies that are not republics, such as the UK, which is a constitutional monarchy.
      There are also republics that are not democracies (or at least not functional ones). The “Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea”, for example, is not democratic at all, as there is one simple ingredient missing: the existence of different, independent political parties. China and other countries where people are not free to express their opinions, especially when contrary to the government’s views, are NOT democracies. In Russia there are different parties, but they are basically controlled and censored by the central government. Countries like these can be organized as republics, but being a republic or a monarchy is not as important as the people having access to information (free press), to be able to decide the nation’s policies through periodic voting (democracy), and all of this guaranteed by the INDEPENDENT branches of the government, which are the executive, the legislative and the judiciary.
      If where you live is not like this, I am really, really sorry for you.

    4. @AfroSyrianDude 🇸🇾
      If you believe that “republic” and “democracy” are opposite or self-excluding concepts, you are mistaken. Could it be because of the names of the two political parties in the United States of America? Both are based on the principles of democracy, although the Republican party has in recent times attracted and endorsed anti-democratic views, which will ultimately cause it to lose even more support and lose future elections, as the country’s demographics change. 🙂

  5. It reminds the use of V1 by the Germans at the end of WWII over London. It has been painful for the Londoniens but it didn’t change the course of the war, not even delaying the final collapse of the Reich!

    1. We have been told by experts that Russia is out of weapons for a long time. Is the expert correct to say this is the end of Russia or is it just the beginning?

    2. @Jeffrey Suharto Russia was armed by the democracies, or it would have been slaughtered by the Germans. Even Stalin admitted that.

  6. I not going to lie. I was roughly 80mi from Iran during the 2020 flare up. I really wasn’t scared of their missiles. We had plenty of air defenses. But after seeing these drones hit that oil refinery in 2019, I was scared of them. I just don’t think we would get much warning of an immanent strike. That being said obviously we’ve adapted by now.

    1. There’s video of these things coming. They can hear them coming from miles away. This story said they sounded like a moped. They sound like a flying lawn mower to me. The police are trying to shoot them down since they fly so low as they approach the target

  7. Only about 15% hit their target, so even though they only pay $20,000 per drone, it costs about $200,000 to land one on a military target.

    They wouldn’t spend 200k to land one single 80lb munition very often. What they are good for though, would be targets that are way away from air defenses.

    These are by far most useful if they plan on attacking civilians in places away from the lines.

    80lb bombs do much more emotional damage in towns, on houses and small businesses.

    I genuinely hope this gets solved quickly before these are used that way

    1. Anti-drone faster drones that can get close to the enemy´s drones and fire small bonzai electronics-guided rockets into them.

    1. @Nigs Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq: not NATO

      Serbia: attacked a NATO country. NATO responded against Serbia.

    2. @Nature and Physics Actually, Serbia did not attack a NATO country. What happened in Serbia was the consequence of mass murders against civilians. NATO intervened to stop further killing – and was successful at it. There were tens of thousands civilians dead already at the moment NATO intervened against Serbia. NATO bombed Serbia for two and a half months, and caused fewer civilian victims than Russia caused in Ukraine in two weeks, at the start of the war. Mass murders against civilians stopped soon after the NATO bombing started.

      Also, while every Russian troll or useful idiot mentions Iraq and Afghanistan, they wilfully ignore South Korea or Japan. Those are also countries that had heavy US military presence, at some point. The difference is that they took what the US brought to them and made good use of it – Western style democracy. Iraq and Afghanistan wer given the same thing, but rejected it. As a consequence, Afghanistan is a theocracy worse than any medieval state and Iraq is a war zone, whereas South Korea and Japan are thriving modern societies, well off economically and socially.

    3. @Florin Jurcovici South Korea was a UN action; not USA. You might want to revisit the fracturing of nations in 1992 along with how N. Macedonia is now a NATO member. NATO is not the UN and did not hot Belgrade as part of a ‘police action’.

  8. No matter WHERE the drones come from source it does not change the result as Russia destroys communication and power systems at will.Small armed planes almost like single engine turboprops or fast piston planes could easily shoot down half of them like the British did in WWII with V1s.Turcano’s come to mind and should be available with machine guns in the wings or a pod .

  9. In the Blitz in the UK in WW2 barrage balloons were used to protect important buildings and services. I wonder if this idea could be revisited again (the missiles hit the balloons)

    1. @DJZROB ZOMBIE You mean all the empty vodka bottles the Russians have left all over the battlefield as they ran away? GOOD IDEA! Ukraine can recycle them as well as all of the crappy tanks and the other ancient weapons of Russian’s ancestors…😂😂😂

    2. True, I had this idea today but didn’t it has been used in the history. I thought my thought was ridiculous 😆

  10. Ukraine needs a fleet of Oerlikan anti aircraft guns. They would literally be perfect for taking down these drones. The company that makes is has a video on youtube of this gun hitting drones half the size of these shahed drobes at hundreds of meters high. 4 drones, 4, 10 round bursts. 4 targets destroyed.

    Barret also makes a version of their .50 cal that rests over the top of the shoulder like a MANPADS , made for destroying helicopters. Though, Ukraine makes a 14.5mm anti material rifle that would probobly also be ideal.

  11. Maybe instead of radars, these should be detected by their sound signature? Surely you cannot spot them from as far, but you could even use cell phones and crowd-sourcing for that.

  12. I’ve watched Laila Harak on Deutsche Welle Youtube for several years.She has always been very professional in her reporting. Good to see her back on TV.

  13. It’s up to the West’s generals to figure out an adequate response to this along with a viable five+ year defensive plan for Ukraine. India, Turkey and others should always be simultaneously working on “reasonably fair” conflict cessation proposals.

  14. Maybe a stupid question but, what would happen if targets were covered by “nets” or a multitude of spiderweb like infrastructure?

    1. Israeli Iron Dome systems can eradicate most of the drones in use today. If it can hit small missiles moving way faster than the Iranian drones, then start supplying.

    2. Interesting concept. Dutch research center TNO has done research on nets catching incoming grenades. I do not know if this research is still ongoing.

  15. Actually this General is leading authority on drones. His PHD was Iraq and Afghanistan and drone strikes of weddings , schools funerals, hospital….he is expert.

  16. During the Blitz in London. These were called Doodlebugs. They destroyed much of my favourite city. But the sound is also the sound of a hapless enemy striking out in defeat. Hold fast my brothers and sisters. X

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