Could This Marine Corps Backpack Solve Ukraine’s Russian Drone Problem?
It’s no exaggeration to say that Russia has had a good month. First, Tucker Carlson’s fanboy interview validated Putin in the eyes of millions of voting Americans.
Next, Putin essentially got the green light from Trump to attack NATO if Trump gets elected.
Finally, Russian troops took Avdiivka (even if it did cost them an estimated 30,000 troops and 400 destroyed armored vehicles.)
But Russia’s biggest win in recent months has been its ability to replicate Ukraine’s drone war with small, consumer drones — something Ukraine pioneered at scale in the first year of the war.
I recently spoke to two volunteers from Ukraine’s International Legion, a British Army sniper, and a US Army paratrooper — these men had been fighting recently in Ukraine — including engagements at Bakhmut.
To illustrate how disruptive Russia’s drone warfare has become, the soldiers told me that they would completely abandon patrols if they were spotted by a loitering Russian drone.
“If we spot a drone, we’ll try to conceal ourselves as quickly as possible. But if the drone stays above us for five to ten minutes, we bug out.”
They said what usually happens next is the drone will coordinate a Russian…
