This week I visited an FPV production line here in Ukraine that is building 100,000 drones a month. That's not a typo: 100,000 a month. And even that output fails to match the needs of Ukraine's front-line forces.
It's an unbelievably impressive operation, comprising 1,500 workers divided into two shifts. They quality-control each component, and a team of drone pilots puts each drone through a short flight profile to ensure its airworthiness.
The vast space hummed with activity. There was urgency in the effort. This was grassroots resistance at its core — the pairing of commercial innovation and a civilian population wholly committed to the war effort.
I used to be a drone warfare skeptic. I thought, for a long time, that drones were a makeshift solution to deficits in air power and artillery ammunition. But no longer. I'm now convinced that drones have an inherent utility that supersedes their capacity to sub in for these other, legacy weapons.
Ukrainians are the experts in this new era of warfare. They're able to harness the power of bottom-up innovation — a process that's driven by the needs of warfighters and then reinforced by a nonstop feedback loop in which front-line troops work with engineers to continually refine their technological tools.
The war in Ukraine increasingly orbits around drones. The trend line is clear, and based on what I've been seeing these past few years, the US is way behind — in terms of technology, tactics, and military culture. We're still wedded to old ideas, and we're not learning the right lessons. Above all, we do not have the capacity to adapt our technologies and our doctrine at the proverbial speed of war, such as the Ukrainians have done.
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Ukraine's PM Shmyhal: By the end of 2024, Ukraine plans to manufacture 1.5 million war drones, while government has also launched an experimental project on certifying UAV operator schools.
you weren't meant to tell anyone you visited us 
On a serious note drop me a DM and swing by, I guarantee although not as large our factory is WAY more fun!Excited about the latest tech for your drone product? Our NDAA-compliant, US-made flight controllers are designed to accelerate your path to market and provide a solid platform for developing your autonomous software. Check them out!
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That's a shit ton of cooked orc on a daily basis......
As said Ukraines production is skyrocketing & will only continue to get stronger & better. 
China already has dedicated troops for drone weapons systems. It's certainly a significant technology.
The real question here is are they able to solve strategic nuclear stalemate? Or are increasingly large, and increasingly sophisticated drone swarms an attempted fork of
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You really should keep information like this to yourself. It saves lives. Remember the saying "loose lips sink ships".
Doesn’t matter much when u can launch 100s of bombs from stand off range on a target. Not that drones don’t matter but they would be less relevant with massive air superiority.
And whatever Ukraine can produce in a month Russia can produce 10x more. Face reality. It’s time to end this war and make peace with your cousins.
This is impressive and I am quite sure, the relevance and effectiveness of a drone-war as a separate discipline in military history will be documented as founded and developed by Ukraine.
Over the past decade and a half, the Chinese techno-authoritarian state has deeply entrenched itself in the day-to-day lives of citizens through the use of highly sophisticated surveillance technology.
#China #ChinaHumanRights
And once target acquisition can be done autonomously by AI processing passive sensor data instead of remote control (which might happen happen sooner than many expect) things will get really nasty. First for the Russians but if America continues to sleep not only for them.
Ukraine's monthly production of UAVs now exceeds Russia's monthly production of artillery shells.
Ukrainians get help of European drone manufacturers. I know some Dutch companies that are actively involved.
Ukraine has a lot to teach the world about fierce resistance, adaptability, and ingenuity.
They will be a great addition to NATO 
Surely only a matter of time before Ukraine can start building ballistics at a big scale
Help Ukrainians protect the fabric of their world.
donate@wildhornets.org.ua
donate@wildhornets.org.ua
China’s Guangzhou Automobile Group (GAC) has unveiled a new inline electric motor, also known as an in-wheel engine, that can revolutionize electric vehicles as we know them.
#China #ChinaTechnology
How did you visit it?
do you have video of this? Just interested as I worked in electronics companies and worked on production/assembly floors.
Don't you follow the Ukraine Russian drone war posts on x or so? It's incredible what both sides do with drones.
Btw: do you have video of this? Just interested as I worked in electronics companies and worked on production/assembly floors.
" ... harness the power of bottom-up innovation — a process that's driven by the needs of warfighters and then reinforced by a nonstop feedback loop in which front-line troops work with engineers to continually refine their technological tools. "
Dis means chnge in wpn dev cultur
"... capacity to adapt our technologies and our doctrine at the proverbial speed of war, ..."
Exhortations, buzzwords, symposiums, ... will not do.
And Import Lobby can not provide it. (Unlike the US, we are fortunate 2 hv an IL
)
Only one way: Grow people with this capacity.
)
Only one way: Grow people with this capacity.
I'm halfway with your conclusion about the value of drones though in "conventional" war, it's about air superiority which Ukraine does not have. I would think once you can est. A.S., use of conv. weapons becomes much more feasible than under current cond.
I've studied in Ukraine. They are incredibly industrious, innovative, and tough. They're amazing allies, and we need to support them
that's an awful lot of guided munitions, probably at a lower cost than anything the 'West' has.
China spent the better part of two years reining in the country’s most powerful private technology companies, including Alibaba Group Holding, Tencent Holdings and Didi Global along with their ultra-rich founders.
#China #ChinaTechnology
Hey Nolan, just a question, why the sceptic? At the outset we could see their utility, it was just a question of would they be allowed to develop them further enough IMHO
Serious question, I know you know they laughed at planes & tanks in WW1
Was it scale that concerned you?
I marvel at the technological leap from basement manufacturing of Molotov cocktails at the beginning of the invasion to this.
Ukraine will be at the forefront ,needs must . Necessity is the mother of invention.
just wait until AI comes into effect to run them, especially swarms. Changes so much.
Hopefully other Western countries are watching the narrative of this conflict.
dronewars.net/british-drones
Well done Ukraine. I'm with you. 
What Ukraine is doing is clear to see...
Ukraine is a major force in drone warfare now,and big nations needs to come and learn a thing or two,and post war Ukraine,would definitely turn them to major force in drone warfare market ..
Drones are now an integral part of any warfare
If they haven’t already, I really hope some clever cat in the Pentagon can get funding to test our ability to rapidly manufacture a lot of something. I’d wager we can do it, but it would be good to practice the coordination involved.
Are they gonna start exporting?
Since they have such a manufacturing base they might as well export some of them...
.
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We need to keep up to them. And yes, learning the value of drone warfare. Azov was in early on, and for me, one volunteer I was helping, Valentyna, described their use about 2021-2022.
Your thinking is lacking in a few vectors. Consider F-35 vs drones:
• barriers to entry
• innovation capacity (necessity is the mother...)
• merginal cost of production
US is not way behind in technology, but in 'thinking':
small nible as a parallel to big industrial.
The next world war will be a drone war
And China is already getting prepared
And China is already getting prepared
You are already behind the curve. Ukrainian drones using artificial intelligence to locate targets autonomously, i.e. with no operator, will hit the battlefield next spring.
Why, US got a $100,000 Switchblade FPV. It may underperform a $300 Ukrainian FPV but surely this is because Ukrainians are ao stupid they don't know how to use FPV drones.
Je ne vois rien d'admirable dans la fabrication de ces objets (ukrainiens ou russes ou ce que vous voulez) destinés à tuer des êtres humains. RIEN.
War has always brought huge leaps forward in technology. All we can do is help Ukraine keep at the cutting edge of it.
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Sir Alan B'Stard MP PhD KPMG
@BStardAlan
While the world looks elsewhere.. Ukrainian are quietly re-writing the rules of modern warfare
ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/391
This is probably all that is keeping Ukraine in this war at the moment.
What about a Baba Yaga dron transporting smaller drones deeper, providing comms for extended range.
The US Army developed a FPV drone called the Fiber Optic Guided Missile (FOGM) that could do anything the current Ukranian FPVs could do but the Army killed the program because it did not fit in with artillery or air defense doctrine. NOT INVENTED HERE!!
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Comeback here when your assumption and assertions are even close to correct.
Cuz I can tell this to you straight when this FPV hype is put throught the test it has failed Ukraine every single time in since the battle of Bahkmut.
Now imagine if Ukraine is absorbed by Russia and that technology and manpower is allowed to enhance Russia’s military prowess.
No one can be a drone skeptic anymore. Not with stats like this Ukrainian warrior.
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Richard Woodruff
@frontlinekit
25-year old FPV-pilot Tymofiy Orel [47th mech. Brigade] was awarded the Order of the "Golden Star" with the title of Hero of Ukraine. From January to May 2024 he eliminated: 434 killed, 346 wounded, 42 tanks, 44 BMPs, 10 MT-LB, 28 BTR/APCs
We may or may NOT have supplied the
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I need my countermeasure systems. I need my whistling birds.
GIF
Good to read your thread/update and see a post from you on here
This platform is not what it used to be, really not good
They should have been able to do this BEFORE the war in fact, they should have the Iron Dome too like Israel. How did they not realize they needed to built after Crimea?
War is a competition of resources.
With fewer resources than your enemy you have to find more efficient ways to compete.
Drones are a much more efficient way to destroy the enemy.
The West can afford blowing up millions $ in a strike because they don't fight all out wars.
Are they really producing those or perhaps it's just an assembly line with Chinese parts...
"The trend line is clear...."
Drones are clearly an important new facet of warfare. But extrapolating from today presumes no counters to those drones beyond the barn tank. More forward air defense, attacking drone operators, EW; these will be required & reduce drone utility.
The best part is that Ukrainian drone pilots are safe to. Kill all those russian bastards.
There's no reason to be too happy. It is a substitution for lack of proper powerful ammunition. Most of those drones are prob carrying just a small grenade and can wound somebody but they won't win a war
I'm sure Russia would LOVE to hear more about that place. I can even bet that with you proclaiming it here and knowing Russian hackers capabilities then there is already a chance that they know where that production line is. Congrats - your mouth just killed a bunch of people.
Why doesn't start buying gear from these lines to test against terrorists in Iraq? needs to master this means to asymetric warfare. is the world leader but Russia is always playing catchup.
I’m with you on everything (esp. doctrine) except the very last part. The US has more adaption capability than popularly believed.
Look at MRAPs during GWOT. Once the military determined they were needed in FY 2007, cheap ones were design and the force was equipped in 18 months.
Why would you ever think a decent range weaponized drone was a fad? Even rocket artillery envies it's accuracy because GMLRs can't follow a moving target. The thermite dropping drones are absolutely horrific
Americans were flying drones 20+ years ago. I'm sure they have far larger capabilities than you think.
Everyone is making drones now, I bet they are trying to make them obsolete by creating anti drone defence.
Word after word, lie after lie, Ukraine is getting decimated on the battlefield. Their own soldiers desperately fighting against conscription. Even if the numbers were true, they're not, China's production is many multiples (1000x) higher and can provide more FPV drones to Russia
I would love to see AFU Drones pay a visit to that sawed off dictator in his bunker or private residence. Be sure to post the video so the world can see the stupid look on his face when he realizes what is about to happen. SLAVA UKRAINI !!!
NATO Threat of Tactical Nukes
Following a series of setbacks, I predicted that NATO would heighten its rhetoric regarding the potential use of tactical nuclear weapons in April and May 2024. This prediction materialized, prompting a response from Russia, which included the
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Readers added context they thought people might want to know
The poster claims that he is showing NATO threats or plans for the use of nuclear weapons. The screenshots he included all show that it is the Russians making the threats.
He is just flat out lying about what they say.
carnegieendowment.org/russia-eurasia…
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