Free Republic

In recent days we assess that Iranian personnel — Iranian military personnel — were on the ground in Crimea and assisted Russia in these operations," said Ned Price. Iranian military personnel are on the ground in occupied Ukrainian territories providing aid to the Russian military in their ongoing invasion, the Whitehouse confirmed on Thursday night. "We can confirm that Russian military personnel based in Crimea have been piloting Iranian UAVs and using them to conduct kinetic strikes across Ukraine in strikes against Kyiv, and in recent days we assess that Iranian personnel — Iranian military personnel — were on the...

Videos released by Russian media Kalashnikow Drone SwarmsLinkshow that Russian special forces have combat tested small, catapult-launched loitering munitions—or “kamikaze drones”—in the Syrian civil war in 2019 and 2020. Reportedly, the twenty-six-pound Lancet-3 drones built by ZALA-Kalashinkov have performed “dozens of precision strikes” with “high efficiency.” Though the Russian military has made effective use of surveillance drones in Ukraine and Syria for targeting lethal air and artillery strikes, it has lagged far behind China, Israel and Turkey in fielding loitering munitions and unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAVs). Thus the report may mark Russia’s first combat use of a purpose-designed loitering...

On Wednesday, March 16 a congressional briefing revealed the U.S. 100 “Tactical Unmanned Aerial Drone Systems” included as part of an $800 million military aid package to Kyiv as it struggles against Russian invasion in fact referred to lethal Switchblade kamikaze drones. That same package also included 2,000 more Javelin anti-tank missiles, 800 Stinger missiles, and 7,000 lighter AT-4 and LAW single-shot anti-tank weapons. But the term “unmanned system” doesn’t actually refer to an individual drone, but rather to a complete package of ground launch and control systems, and potentially multiple drones. And indeed according to journalist Michael Weiss, a...