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Mint
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Mint
Russia is raining hellfire on Ukraine
A YEAR AGO, for 30 drones to strike Ukraine in a single night was considered exceptional. Now Russia is saturating Ukraine's air defences with hundreds of them. On May 25th the Kremlin pummelled the country, with what it called a 'massive strike" against Ukrainian cities, featuring 298 drones, probably a record. Russia is using more missiles, too: 69 were fired on the same night. As a result, Ukraine is once again stepping into the unknown. If the current ceasefire talks fail, which seems highly probable, air-defence units will need to ration their interceptors. More Russian missiles and drones will get through, to strike towns, cities and critical industry. Russia's air war stepped up at the start of the year (see chart), with a marked shift in the hardware it uses. Ballistic missiles, many supplied by North Korea, are now centre-stage; alongside a new, more lethal, generation of Shahed attack drones. The ballistic missiles are hard to stop because of their speed; only Ukraine's dwindling stock of Patriot PAC-3 missiles offers any real chance of interception. Meanwhile, the Shaheds, now in their sixth modification since the first of them were shipped to Russia by Iran in 2023, are using machine-learning to strike well-protected targets like Kyiv. On May 24th drones took chunks out of buildings in the northern suburbs of the capital. Two weeks earlier, one drone equipped with a fuel-air warhead made a hole in a shopping centre just nearby, blowing out windows as much as 300m away. The same week, another, stuffed with delayed-action cluster munitions, hit a training range on the south-eastern edge of the city. The main challenge facing Ukraine's air-defence crews is the sheer number now flying at them. Last year the Kremlin was producing around 300 Shahed drones a month; the same number now rolls out in under three days. Ukrainian military intelligence says it has documents that suggest that Russia plans to increase its drone production to 500 a day, suggesting that attack swarms of 1,000 could become a reality. That is probably a stretch, cautions Kostiantyn Kryvolap, a Ukrainian aviation expert. Russia's arms industry runs on bluster and false reporting, he says. 'But it's clear the numbers are going to increase significantly." Even if Ukraine manages to stabilise the front lines in the east, the difficulties of protecting the skies will only grow. In a skunkworks in a hidden corner of Kyiv, a ragtag group of engineers are pulling apart the innards of a Russian-made Shahed drone. Every piece of metal that falls on Ukrainian cities ends up in laboratories such as this for a complete post-mortem. The aim is to document the weapons' tricks; to re-engineer anything that works, and send a version of it back from whence it came. In the past month, there has been no let-up in the work. Despite hopes of a ceasefire, Russia is finding more and more ways to cut through Ukraine's air defences, which face mounting difficulties from a shortage of interceptor missiles, changing enemy tactics and unfriendly American politics. As they continue to dissect the latest Shahed delivery, the engineers say one of their biggest worries is how the Russian drones are now being controlled. The newest models are unfazed by Ukraine's electronic warfare, they say. This is because they no longer rely on jammable GPS , are driven by artificial intelligence, and piggyback on Ukraine's own internet and mobile internet networks. The team say they recently discovered a note inside one of the drones they were dismantling—presumably left by a sympathetic Russian engineer—which hinted at the new control algorithm. The drones are controlled via bots on the Telegram social-media platform, the note indicated, sending flight data and live video feeds back to human operators in real time. Not long ago, most of the drone-hunting was done by mobile crews with cheap machine guns, shoulder-fired missiles and short-range artillery. Now, says Colonel Denys Smazhny, an officer in the air-defence forces, the drones routinely manoeuvre around these groups. They initially fly low to avoid detection, then climb sharply to 2,000–2,500 metres as they near cities, breaching the threshold for small-calibre guns. So Ukraine is turning to helicopters, F-16 fighter jets and interceptor drones, which have begun to show good results. A senior official says the air defences around Kyiv are still knocking out around 95% of the drones that Russia throws at it. But the 5% that slip through cause serious damage. Ukraine still has a fighting chance against drones and cruise missiles. But the outlook against ballistic threats is bleaker. Only a handful of countries have systems that can counter such fast and destructive weapons. In the Western world, the American Patriot system has an effective monopoly on the ballistic air-defence business. Ukraine now has at least eight Patriot batteries, though at any given time some are damaged and under repair. Their crews operate them with impressive skill. Since spring 2023, they've knocked down more than 150 ballistic and air-launched ballistic missiles. But the systems have been largely concentrated around Kyiv. Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine's president, says Ukraine needs at least ten more, with corresponding stockpiles of the PAC-3 interceptors the system uses, to start to make its cities feel secure. He insists the country is ready to pay whatever it takes, presumably using European money. The White House response has been non-committal. The problem is that Ukraine has slipped from being a priority for the Biden administration to just one of only many potential customers competing for limited production under Donald Trump. Lockheed Martin, which builds the Patriot systems and their PAC-3s, is increasing its output to 650 missiles per year. But this is about 100 fewer than projected Russian production of ballistic missiles, with a Ukraine government source estimating the Kremlin has a 500-missile stockpile. It usually takes two PAC-3 interceptor missiles to intercept a Russian ballistic missile. For China hawks in the Trump administration, a Patriot system or missile sent to Ukraine is one fewer that can be sent to the Pacific theatre. Even the most Ukraine-friendly administration—which this one is not—would find it hard to keep pace with the persistent Russian threat. Ukraine has asked for the right to produce its own version of the PAC-3 under licence, but knows that is unlikely. Production is due to begin in Germany, but only at the end of 2026. There are other joint-production projects in the pipeline too. But in all cases the breakthrough point is at least a year away. Ukraine may have to develop a survival strategy that pairs air defence with air offence and deterrence. 'We will have to destroy Russian launch complexes, the factories and the stores," says Mr Kryvolap, the aviation expert. 'We should be under no illusions."
Miami Herald
20-05-2025
- Miami Herald
China Unveils Game-Changing First Drone ‘Mothership'
China's new drone "mothership" is set to take flight, according to the country's state broadcaster, which touted the aircraft as a game changer in drone warfare. Observers, however, have noted key vulnerabilities and said the behemoth, teased at China's flagship air show in November, amounts to "propaganda." Newsweek contacted the Pentagon for comment by email. The People's Liberation Army continues its rapid buildup, with an eye to supplanting the U.S. as the leading military power in the Asia-Pacific. Its warship count now exceeds the U.S. Navy's, and it possesses growing anti-access/area-denial capabilities, such as its vast missile fleet. China has also been investing heavily in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and swarm technologies in a bid to achieve air superiority in a wartime scenario-for instance, an invasion of Beijing-claimed Taiwan. Built by the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China, the Jiu Tian drone has a wingspan of 82 feet and runs on a turbofan engine, China Central Television said in a Saturday broadcast. It has a maximum range of 4,350 miles and a 15-kilometer (9.3 miles) ceiling, and it can exceed 435 miles per hour. What sets the aircraft apart is its ability to launch smaller drones mid-flight from both sides of its fuselage. With a maximum payload of six tons, it can carry up to 100 small UAVs, including loitering drones-shown in a computer-animated promotional video pouring out of the plane like bees from a hive. In addition to swarm-launching, the drone can be armed with a mix of air-to-air, anti-ship and air-to-ground missiles, as well as 1,000-kilogram (about 2,200-pound) guided bombs. The Jiu Tian is also built for modularity. Its payloads can be swapped out in under two hours, depending on the mission-electronic warfare, strike and support, emergency rescue-making it suitable for a range of civilian and military roles. It can also serve as a communications relay for the smaller drones it launches, allowing remote operators to control them from behind the front lines using a man-in-the-loop system. That could let short-range drones operate well beyond their typical limits. Still, the drone carrier's size presents a tempting target for modern air defense systems, meaning it would likely need to rely on air suppression support. Additionally, even at its stated maximum altitude, the drone would be well within the range of several modern air-defense systems, including the U.S.'s THAAD and Patriot PAC-3, Taiwan's Sky Bow III, Japan's Aegis BMD, and South Korea's KM-SAM Block II. User @MCCCANM, a self-described former U.S. Air Force instructor with 30,000 followers, wrote on X, formerly Twitter: "I'm not a fighter pilot, but this is like trying to sneak into near-peer enemy airspace with a formation of KC-10s [retired tanker and cargo aircraft]. It's not remotely survivable...a gigantic missile magnet. This is just classic propaganda." The "mothership" will conduct its first test flight at the end of June, CCTV reported. Related Articles New Microbe Discovered Aboard Chinese Space StationMap Shows US Command Ship in Pacific Amid China Navy ChallengeFirst Cracks Emerge in US-China Trade TruceFrontline US Aircraft Carrier Near China Prepares for Military Action 2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.
CairoScene
18-05-2025
- Business
- CairoScene
Saudi Arabia Commits USD 600 Billion to US During Trump's MENA Tour
The deal includes a historic USD 142 billion arms agreement, the largest in US history, covering advanced military support. During President Donald Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom signed a strategic economic agreement committing USD 600 billion in investments across key US sectors, including defense, technology, energy, and healthcare. A central component of the deal is a USD 142 billion arms agreement—the largest of its kind in US history—which encompasses state-of-the-art military equipment, services, and extensive training programs for Saudi armed forces. The package includes advanced systems such as C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft, THAAD anti-ballistic missile systems, Patriot PAC-3 missile defenses, and MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones. While discussions about the potential sale of F-35 fighter jets have occurred, no confirmation has been made regarding their inclusion in the deal. Beyond defense, the agreement includes significant investments in technology and infrastructure. Saudi data centre operator DataVolt plans to invest USD 20 billion in US AI and energy projects. Additionally, a consortium including Google, Oracle, and DataVolt has pledged USD 80 billion toward joint technology initiatives. In the healthcare sector, Shamekh IV Solution is committing USD 5.8 billion, which includes the establishment of a high-capacity IV fluid plant in Michigan. The agreements also cover cooperation in customs, judicial coordination, infectious disease research, and a new partnership between Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Interior and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. President Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia is the first stop on his Gulf tour, with subsequent visits to the UAE and Qatar planned.
