Author Topic: Drones/UAV/UAS/Bots and Balloons  (Read 125560 times)

Crafty_Dog

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WSJ: Drones increasing role in Ukraine
« Reply #350 on: January 09, 2024, 06:54:20 AM »

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A drone squad commander with the call sign Tulayne, meaning “Seal”, during an operation near Mala Tokmachka, in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region.
A drone squad commander with the call sign Tulayne, meaning “Seal”, during an operation near Mala Tokmachka, in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region.
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EUROPE
Short on Shells, Ukraine Relies on Explosive Drones to Hold Russia Back
The drones are more accurate than artillery, but far less powerful. They are helping Ukraine to fend off Russia’s forces, at least for now
By Ian LovettFollow
 | Photographs by Manu Brabo for The Wall Street Journal
Updated Jan. 8, 2024 12:00 am ET

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A VILLAGE NEAR ORIKHIV, Ukraine—From a bunker on the southeastern front, it’s easy to hear how Ukraine’s supply of artillery ammunition has dwindled. For every five or six incoming Russian shells, the Ukrainians fire back once or twice.

As the war approaches its third year, Russia is on the offensive, backed by an economy on a war footing. Ukraine, meanwhile, is short on ammunition as additional aid from its main backer, the U.S., remains blocked in Congress.

With artillery shells running low, Ukrainian troops on the front lines are improvising and using explosive drones to try to hold the Russians back.

“We’re increasingly using FPV drones because we have a lack of shells,” said Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s minister of digital transformation. But, he added, “drones can’t replace artillery completely.” 

Ukraine’s growing reliance on FPV, or first-person-view, drones offers a preview of what the war might look like if the flow of Western weapons to Kyiv were severely curtailed.


FPV drones can’t match the speed of artillery or blast through a concrete wall, but they are cheaper and much easier to produce.
With additional aid packages from the U.S. and the European Union stalled, Ukrainian forces are running short on ammunition, money and manpower. Many brigades are depleted from the summer counteroffensive, which failed to make a significant breakthrough.

Now, the Ukrainians are trying to make do until more resources arrive. As in the first weeks of the war—before Western weapons flooded into the country—that short-handedness has led to unorthodox tactics and MacGyvered weapons to plug holes, such as substituting FPV drones for artillery fire.

The drones can’t fly as far or fast as artillery. They can’t carry as much explosive, or blast through a concrete wall. But at just a few hundred dollars each, the drones cost far less than artillery shells and are much easier to produce—volunteers buy drones from commercial vendors and deliver them to the soldiers, who rig them with explosives.

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 Both sides have made increasing use of FPV drones over the past six months as they’ve shown their usefulness on Ukraine’s flat, open fields. They’re far more accurate than artillery, allowing the drone pilots to chase down moving vehicles and troops on foot. While artillery usually needs several shots to hit a target, FPV drones hit almost every time.

So far, they’re just about holding back Russian advances around Robotyne village to the south of the town of Orikhiv, since some artillery units in the area were sent to other parts of the front.

 “They’re putting more and more hopes on us,” said a 33-year-old commander of an FPV drone squad, who goes by the call sign Tulayne, meaning “Seal.”


Tulayne said his drone team was operating short-handed in several ways.
The Wall Street Journal observed Tulayne’s team on a recent mission in the Robotyne area, where Russian forces have been trying to win back the territory Ukraine seized during the counteroffensive.

The four-man team brought 20 propeller drones, each about the size of a dinner plate, to a bunker a few miles from the front line.

The engineer attached different kinds of munitions to a few of the drones—one for hitting infantry, another designed to penetrate armored vehicles. Then he ran outside to set up an antenna, with wires running into the bunker to connect to the pilot.

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A surveillance team spotted at least a dozen Russians in a network of foxholes not far away. Tulayne, who was acting as pilot, slipped on goggles that let him see what the drone’s camera sees and grabbed a controller. Then the drone whirred into the air.

Tulayne maneuvered toward the entrance to a foxhole, then slammed the drone into it. He and his colleagues watched a live feed from a surveillance drone as smoke rose from the foxhole, waiting for Russians to run out. “They’ll come out,” Tulayne said of the Russians.


Ukrainian soldiers with FPV drones are able to chase down Russian personnel.

Soldiers from the Ukrainian drone squad walk toward a front-line position.
The deputy commander told an engineer to get another drone, armed with a different kind of munition, ready to take off and hit them again: “He’s bandaging him,” he surmised. “We need to fly there fast.”

Although the Ukrainians are relying on FPV drones out of necessity, soldiers operating around Robotyne said the devices are transforming the front line. Because large armored vehicles are valuable, easy-to-spot targets, both sides limited their use on the front line and instead began to rely on vans, or even motorbikes.

But using the FPV drones, the Ukrainians are now hitting even small vehicles, and chasing down soldiers on foot.

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The result is that the gray zone—between enemy trenches that neither side controls—has grown wider, according to soldiers in the area, making it tougher to advance.

“When we arrived a few months ago, the enemy was still bringing in people and ammunition with Jeeps,” said the 31-year-old commander of another FPV platoon working near Robotyne. “We’ve slowly destroyed all their logistics. Now, they have to bring boxes and evacuate the wounded on foot.”

Over the course of their 12-hour shift, Tulayne and his team launched 12 drones. One was jammed by Russian electronic warfare systems. Two failed to detonate. The rest slammed into the same network of Russian foxholes. The team believed they killed two and injured several more.


Tulayne said he had noticed an increase in the use of FPV drones by Russia.
Still, the FPV teams said they were operating short-handed in several ways, making their job tougher.

Tulayne’s platoon should be twice as large as it is, but he hasn’t been able to recruit new men, leaving the team overworked.

And even though the drones are cheap, there’s a limit to how many can be used. The team must request special approval to hit the same foxhole over and over. During their recent shift, they requested permission and never got an answer.

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Most of all, Tulayne said, the lack of artillery support is a handicap.

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Though the drones are effective against infantry and vehicles, they can’t carry enough explosive to destroy fortifications, which artillery can blast through. In addition, they fly far slower than artillery—about half a mile a minute. Sometimes, by the time they reach their destination, the target is gone.

A few months ago, the drones were supplementing artillery, swooping in after shells had crashed through fortifications and picking off softer targets.

“I’d just fly toward the clouds where artillery had hit,” Tulayne said. “It’s been a few weeks since that happened.”

Ukrainian front line
Map of the Ukraine front line, comparing Jan. 1, 2023 to Dec. 31.
Front line Jan. 1, 2023

Russian-controlled area Dec. 31

50 miles

50 km

RUSSIA

Kharkiv

UKRAINE

Bakhmut

Dnipro

Orikhiv

Mariupol

Kherson

Sea of Azov

Source: Institute for the Study of War and AEI’s Critical Threats Project
Andrew Barnett/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
In addition to seeking foreign arms, Ukraine is working to beef up its production of FPV drones, including making some that are capable of carrying larger munitions.

“We will make a million drones next year,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said at the end of December. “I agree we have challenges. With amounts of aid, with artillery shells.”

Meanwhile, however, Moscow is trying to make the most of its resource advantage, and is building its own FPV drone army.

“In the last few weeks, their use of FPV drones has increased three or four times,” Tulayne said, though he added that Ukraine was still using more. “Their artillery is working well. They have an advantage in air reconnaissance.”

Though Tulayne said the Russians hadn’t gained any territory in the area where his platoon was working, Moscow has slowly been clawing back territory around Robotyne, according to open-source analysts.

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Re: Drones/UAV/UAS/Bots and Balloons
« Reply #356 on: March 12, 2024, 06:08:06 AM »
CD

appears the page was taken off the net.

Crafty_Dog

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Re: Drones/UAV/UAS/Bots and Balloons
« Reply #357 on: March 12, 2024, 06:11:14 AM »
I'm still seeing it. 


Crafty_Dog

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Drone vs. Race Car
« Reply #359 on: March 14, 2024, 02:41:35 PM »


Crafty_Dog

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Uke Cessna drone hits Russia
« Reply #361 on: April 03, 2024, 04:23:09 PM »





Crafty_Dog

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WSJ: Plan to outlaw Chinese drones met with protest
« Reply #366 on: August 07, 2024, 09:07:40 AM »


https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/congresss-plan-to-outlaw-chinese-drones-met-with-protest-c95cf1fe?mod=latest_headlines


By Heather SomervilleFollow
Aug. 7, 2024 8:30 am ET


The U.S. isn’t ready to wean itself from Chinese drones.

Search-and-rescue worker Kyle Nordfors flew a drone made by a Silicon Valley company into the rugged Wasatch Range in Utah. No one was lost in the backcountry—he was trying to make a point.

The drone couldn’t make it up the mountain. Its radio lost connection, causing it to turn around and fly back.

“I could not even physically get the American drone to the top of the mountain to begin the search,” he said.

Nordfors, head of air operations for Weber County Sheriff Search and Rescue, was trying to re-create a rescue he had successfully completed a few weeks earlier with a Chinese drone from SZ DJI Technology. He has tested dozens of drones in the mountains, and DJI works the best, he said.

Now he is worried Washington is about to hamstring his searches for lost climbers and hikers.

Enthusiasts like Nordfors have proven crucial in DJI’s fight against a proposed ban from Congress that would effectively outlaw new DJI sales in the U.S. Throngs of loyal users, from mountain-rescue squads to police departments and farmers, have drummed up resistance, calling their elected officials, writing opinion columns and signing letters in support for Shenzhen-based DJI.

A DJI drone aids in a mountain rescue by the Weber County Sheriff Search and Rescue team in Utah’s Wasatch Range. KYLE NORDFORS
DJI has been labeled a national-security risk by Republicans and Democrats, military officials and federal regulators. The U.S. government has placed tariffs on the drones and largely prohibited federal agencies from using DJIs.

Yet DJI accounts for around 70% to 90% of the American commercial, local government and hobbyist drone market. Real-estate agents, movie producers, firefighters, roof inspectors, utilities and law enforcement have all come to depend on the brand. The Secret Service bought more than 20 of them in 2022 just before restrictions were put in place, according to federal purchasing records.

DJI says a ban could cost the U.S. billions of dollars and impact thousands of jobs.

“It would also leave a vacuum in the U.S. drone ecosystem by removing the largest manufacturer from the market,” the company said in a letter to Congress.

Small drones have become essential tools in U.S. commerce and emerged as critical weapons in modern combat, handing the world’s largest supplier—DJI—enormous power. National-security experts say reliance on Chinese drones creates a dangerous dependency that China could exploit in a conflict.


Ukrainians have relied on DJI, while American models have often failed on the front lines—although soldiers have had to contend with security vulnerabilities.

The latest attempt to block DJI drones is a bill to prohibit new models of DJI drones from receiving the license necessary to fly on American communication networks. Drones that users are flying today would be allowed. The bill passed in the House.

“The United States must end its reliance on Communist China and build the U.S. drone industrial base,” said Rep. Elise Stefanik (R., N.Y.), who sponsored the bill.


Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York is sponsor of a bill to prohibit new models of DJI drones from being licensed to fly on American communication networks. Photo: Annabelle Gordon/CNP/Zuma Press
The Senate last week introduced its version of a Chinese drone ban, which also covers Chinese drone maker Autel Robotics and includes a grant program to help first responders buy American drones.

DJI said it has encouraged lobbying to block the ban and helped fund the Drone Advocacy Alliance, a collection of organizations that oppose Stefanik’s bill. Senators were inundated with concerns from public-safety representatives and farmers.

Filling the void

The national-security debate around DJI goes back years. Lawmakers and law-enforcement officials accuse DJI of aiding in human-rights abuses in the far-western Chinese region of Xinjiang, and say DJI drones can send sensitive data back to Beijing, although security reviews have had mixed findings.


Concerns have amplified in recent months after a government lab issued new findings on the security risks posed by DJI, according to people briefed on the findings. Federal officials have cautioned utility operators against using DJI drones to inspect dams and power grids.

DJI said it “categorically refutes” human-rights abuses allegations. Its users can fly the drones without an internet connection, the company said, and independent reviews have found its drones are secure.

The Lawrence, Kan., police department has used its fleet of 20 DJI drones, together with other Chinese brands, to find missing children and capture violent criminals trying to escape arrest, said Sgt. Drew Fennelly, drone-team coordinator at the department.


Top, a DJI M30 drone in training action; the Lawrence, Kan., police department says it has used its fleet of drones to find missing children and capture violent criminals.

“We just want the best technology that keeps our citizens safe for the most reasonable price,” he said. “The technology in the U.S.-made drones has not caught up with the Chinese-manufactured drones.”

Drone users fretting about the possibility of a DJI ban say American drones often can’t fly far enough, have inferior cameras and radios and can cost five times the price of DJI drones. 

U.S. drone makers say they have closed the technology gap with China, and costs will come down once they have enough demand and funding to manufacture at a larger scale. Some U.S.-manufactured indoor drones are as good as DJIs, industry experts say.


Adam Bry, chief executive at Skydio—the maker of the drone that failed to reach the mountaintop in Utah—said his drones are used by more than 400 public-safety agencies, including for mountain rescues, because they are “easy to fly, hard to crash and capable.”

DJI accounts for 90% of the drones used by U.S. public-safety agencies, according to a 2020 data analysis by Bard College in New York.


Silicon Valley company Skydio says its drones are used by more than 400 public-safety agencies. Photo: Clara Mokri for WSJ
Skydio recently posted a video of a successful flight of its drone in an area near where search-and-rescue worker Nordfors’s test flight of a Skydio drone had failed.

In a blog post accompanying the video, Skydio said it had upgraded its communications system so its drones would perform better when flying behind obstacles or long distances.

“They are making good changes,” Brandon Karr of the Law Enforcement Drone Association said about American drone makers. “The one thing they cannot adjust for are supply chains.”

American drones are in short supply with long wait times. Drone buyers say they sometimes have to wait close to five months for a U.S. drone, while DJIs are available immediately.

“Are American drone companies ready to fill the void?” said Trevor Perrott, chief executive of Florida drone maker Censys Technologies. “No, we’re not ready. But DJI may very well be a Band-Aid we need to rip off for long-term gain.”


The Lawrence Police Department says its drones from Chinese makers are more reliable than some U.S.-made drones. Photo: Arin Yoon for WSJ

Cpl. Skyler Richardson does some maintenance on a DJI Mini drone. Photo: Arin Yoon for WSJ
At least seven states have passed bans on the use of Chinese drones for publicly funded agencies, as local politicians have moved to take action against DJI.

After Florida passed a law banning DJI drones last year, some counties that had come to depend on drones suddenly had none to fly. The Miami-Dade Police Department bought five American drones after losing its DJI fleet, a spokesman said. “We do not have the same capabilities with the American drones,” he said, although they have seen improvements.

In Kansas, the Lawrence Police Department welcomed Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of the state bill that prohibited the use of Chinese drones by public agencies. Kelly said the restrictions would “end up placing significant burdens” on law enforcement.

“Ideally, we would like to be supporting U.S.-made drones,” said Fennelly, the drone-team coordinator. “But that is just really difficult for us right now to do that.”

Brett Forrest contributed to this article.

Write to Heather Somerville at heather.somerville@wsj.com



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WW2 tech boosts drone lethality
« Reply #371 on: September 05, 2024, 02:09:43 PM »
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/wwii-era-technology-boosts-lethality-of-ukrainian-drone-bomb-strikes/ar-AA1q3OGW?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=6bfc8069d0914440a95021d10fcb7049&ei=104

WWII-era technology boosts lethality of Ukrainian drone bomb strikes
Necessity is the mother of invention, and Ukrainian troops are proving it every day in the battle against Russia. One of the most recent ones that have surfaced is an old World War 2 era technique, which is making its drone bombs more lethal.

The invention is quite simple in nature – attaching a laser sensor to a drone bomb fuse. The laser sensor acts as a tape measure to find out the distance between the bomb and the intended target.

It then sets about the bomb fuse so that detonation can take place, increasing the lethality of the drone bomb.

The information about the same was revealed by a Russian blogger named UAV Developer on Telegram in a group named Military Hub.

In the post on the messaging app Telegram, originally written in the Russian language, the blogger states that the primary explosion sensor is LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), which uses laser pulses to measure distances.
 “Anyone who has had a laser tape measure understands what we are talking about,” UAV Developer stated in his post on Telegram. He then went on to add that it gives the bomb fuse the capability to get triggered at the desired distance from the target.

The bomb fuse also has a secondary push-button contact sensor, which is normally present on most bombs. It is designed to take over in case the primary laser sensor fails.

Related video: Drone or Dragon: Ukraine’s deadly thermite weapon (Dailymotion)

He then goes on to mention that this means that Ukrainians are “following the path of electrification of ammunition.”

Adding sensors to bomb fuse
Although quite a simple and time-tested formula, the addition of laser sensors can make the drone bombs quite effective.

Claims have also been made regarding Ukrainian troops using ‘Johnny‘ electronic fuse with anti-tank mines.

Typically, an anti-tank mine is triggered only when a tank or heavy vehicle passes over it and turns on the switch. However, the addition of ‘Johnny’– essentially a magnetometer – allows the anti-tank mine to detonate when a person or vehicle approaches it.

The metal on the individual or vehicle attracts the magnetometer, triggering the fuse and leading to detonation. Further, the addition of an anti-handling gyroscope prevents any attempt to move the bomb safely.

What is even more terrifying for Russian forces is that everyday items are also being converted into IEDs with the addition of Verba and are being left behind by Ukrainian troops.

Increasing lethality in the Russia-Ukraine war
The war between Russia and Ukraine has resulted in an unprecedented increase in the use of drones and other simple yet effective technologies.

Recently, there were reports of Ukrainian troops deploying drones equipped with thermite to burn Russian fortifications. Russia has also reportedly been using thermite bombs and drones to inflict damage on Kyiv and its troops.

The emergence of new anti-drone warfare technologies and tactics is escalating with each passing month due to the war, and both sides are resorting to increasingly lethal attacks to gain an advantage.

Now in its third year, the war has taken a devastating toll on the lives of people in the region. Most recently, a Russian attack using drones and missiles on Wednesday resulted in the deaths of seven people in the city of Lviv in Ukraine.

This followed an earlier strike on a military institute in the city of Poltava, which killed 53 individuals, according to Kyiv officials.





Crafty_Dog

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Sinwar throws stick at drone
« Reply #376 on: October 18, 2024, 04:01:01 AM »

Crafty_Dog

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