Latest news with #Tkach
Forbes
30-04-2025
- Forbes
Unique Ukrainian Drone Bomber Mission Rescues Prisoners
Still from the drone video showing Ukrainian captives led by a Russian soldier under trees Ukrainian drone operators carried out an unusual rescue mission recently, using precision strikes to free three soldiers who had been taken captive. A video of the operation makes interesting viewing, showing how the drone operators carried out a mission remotely which would previously have needed boots on the ground. Clearly this particular operation was cherry-picked for propaganda purposes and shows a 'best case' outcome, but it gives a valuable glimpse into the current state of the art of multi-drone close-quarter action. The mission is described in a news release from Ukraine's Border Guards, credited to Roman Tkach, press officer for the Sumy border detachment. He states it took place 'the other day' in the Sumy region. 'Border patrol operators of reconnaissance drones discovered an enemy group with three captured Ukrainian defenders,' according to Tkach. The video from a recon drone shows the group moving through light forest in single file, with three Russian soldiers leading, followed by the three prisoners, with two more Russians bringing up the rear. Because of the spring foliage individuals can only be seen intermittently through the greenery. The drones have thermal imagers as well as daylight cameras, and these can see through leaves to some degree, but cannot distinguish uniforms or whether somneone is armed. 'To help the border guards, to intercept and destroy the enemy, several UAV crews of the 1st Separate Tank Siversk Brigade immediately flew out,' states Tkach. Thermal imaging view as a drone-dropped grenade falls towards a Russian sheltering under a tree The drone operators carried out a joint operation, with the Border Guards scout drones guiding the Tank Brigade team's light bombers. These appear to be Mavic-type drones armed with hand grenades. 'They managed to separate the enemy from Ukrainian soldiers and force the enemy to flee with the help of [grenade] drops. The drops were so accurate that the enemy had no chance, he left the prisoners and retreated,' states Tkach. We see six grenades dropped. The time taken to fall, of 4-5 seconds, suggests they are being dropped from 250-400 feet, and land a few feet from the aim point. One Russian appears to be injured. While hand grenades like the F1 and the M67 were commonly dropped from drones early on in the war they have now been largely superseded by purpose-made munitions. As soon as the grenades start coming down, the men below start running and taking cover. At some point (1:30 on this video) the captives make a break for it and run away, presumably towards Ukrainian lines. A Russian soldier holds on to a tree to avoid drone bombs We get a zoomed-in close-up from vertically above a Russian solder, who is clinging to a tree (at 2:16 in this video). He knows that the trees gives some cover from observation, and the branches can deflect or prematurely explode falling grenades. When the drone drops a grenade, he must hear it coming down through the tree, as he runs away and escapes just before it hits. The Russians are now separated from their prisoners, and we a different type of drone in action, a heavy bomber or Baba Yaga, normally flown at night. This has a munitions display showing how many of its weapons have been used and the falling bombs are visibly larger, being converted mortar bombs or purpose-designed antipersonnel weapons. Thermal imaging view from a from the heavy drone bomber during the rescue 'The Russians were destroyed,' claims Tkach. It is not possible to confirm this from the video, but given that the survivors are being pursued by several drones which do not seem to have any difficulty following them, it is plausible. Meanwhile the escapees are being led to safety by a reconnaissance drone. We can see the navigation lights being turned on and off as a 'follow me' signal, and the soldiers are guided along a path to a wooden bridge. This technique has previously been used the other way, with 'non-contact surrenders' of Russians mediated by drones leading them to Ukrainian lines. Drone operations often require an extended planning process with targets precisely located and units assigned specific roles well in advance. Given the timing, this one seems to have been carried out on the fly, with at least four drones of three different types of drone operated by two different units. This suggests a high degree of professionalism and co-ordination. The speed of the drones also means they were able to intercept the moving group when a ground-based unit would have been too slow. The escaped Ukrainians (at top left) are led to safety The Russians clearly lack effective counter-drone armament. They do not even try to shoot down the drones bombing them. This seems to be typical. Hitting a small drone with an automatic rifle is challenging and makes the shooter an obvious target. A shotgun may be useful against FPVs at close range, but not so much against a bomber, especially through foliage. Portable 'trench jammers' effective against FPV attack drones typically have a range of 100 yards of less. That is enough to make the FPV operator lose control of their drone and force a miss. But it is not effective against a drone which can drop bombs from an altitude of more than 300 feet. More powerful jammers are available, but typically too heavy to be portable, especially with enough batteries for prolonged operations. Russian forces also have some radio-frequency anti drone guns, but these are rare, and their effectiveness is questionable. There is more than one video of a Russian pointing such a weapon at a drone with no effect right up until impact. Ukrainian DJI Mavic 3 used as a bomber with two improvised munitions On the other hand, anti-personnel drone bombing is, so to speak, a matter or hit-and-miss. It takes a lot of grenades to ensure a kill, but then this has always been true. The U.S. produced more than 50 million hand grenades in WWII, many times the number of German soldiers killed. FPVs may be more effective than 'drop drones' on a per-sortie basis, but drones which can return again and again may be more effective over the long run. Ukrainian drone unit Birds of Magyar say that their bombers carry out an average of 69 sorties before being lost. They can hit targets with greater precision than mortars or artillery and can keep attacking for as long as they have ammunition. This was a bold mission which could easily have gone wrong. There are numerous cases of Russians summarily executing Ukrainian PoWs, and after coming under attack the captors might have decided that shooting the prisoners was safer than guarding them. But the Ukrainians made the right call and rescued the captives. Ukraine is looking to increasing the number of drones and robots at the front line, keeping their human operators back out of danger. This example shows that even with existing technology, complex and demanding missions can be successfully executed from a distance.
CBC
11-04-2025
- Business
- CBC
Some Michigan tourism agencies are pulling back on Canadian marketing amidst trade war
Social Sharing As the number of Canadians heading stateside plummets due to the ongoing trade war, some American tourism agencies are making hard pivots to their marketing strategies. Return trips by land to the U.S., and back, declined steeply in March by nearly 32 per cent from the same month last year, according to Statistics Canada. Traverse City Tourism has paused its advertising in Canada after seeing a big drop in interest in its digital campaigns. CEO and president Trevor Tkach says the decision was made because several key indicators were underperforming. "We're being extremely vigilant and critical of our campaigns and making sure that the markets we are promoting have the highest potential for return," he said. Additionally, there were partners like Pure Michigan, according to Tkach, who also began pulling back from the Canadian market. "It seemed like probably a prudent move to hit pause on the campaign for now." Traverse City is in northern Michigan, about a four-hour drive from the border in Windsor, Ont. It's known for its dunes, waterfront, beaches, cherries and wineries. Tkach says Canadian travellers have been a "very important component" to the overall Michigan travel economy, especially in places like Metro Detroit, with a "high dependency" on that market. "Not to say we're giving up on Canada by any means. We can't wait to have our friends from the north come visit us again, but it's a challenging time right now and we're trying to be as conservative and prudent with our dollars as we can be." Ahead of the recent trade war, Tkach pointed to the low loonie working against Canadian travellers crossing the border to visit. And as a result, they've shifted more of their attention to American driveable markets. "We're just trying to be as as thoughtful about our target market as possible to make sure that we can get the return for our tourism economy here in the region. We're being mindful about people's ability to travel right now and their budgets and whatnot." Tkach says about 70 per cent of their business comes from within their own state of Michigan. "We can always probably get more return from the market that we know than from markets that we haven't fully penetrated. That said, Michiganders tend to come for shorter periods of time and spend less money." Are Americans still coming here? Jason Toner says a third of visitors that normally come to Windsor-Essex are from the U.S., and so far they still seem interested in coming over despite the political tension and economic uncertainty. "We're hoping that does continue and we're going to continue to focus some of our efforts on the U.S. side because it is an important demographic for us," said the vice president of marketing and communications for Tourism Windsor Essex Pelee Island (TWEPI). He says their marketing in Michigan will rely heavily on the value proposition moving forward with the difference in the dollar. According to Statistics Canada, there has been a decrease in Americans choosing to visit Canada. In March, car trips came in at roughly 770,400 — a decline of 10.6 per cent from the same month in 2024. This was the second consecutive month of a year-over-year decline. Toner says they are shifting their marketing messaging because regardless of Americans coming here, many Canadians are scrapping plans to head to the U.S., and local tourism is trying to capitalize on it. "We're expanding what we do in the province. And so you're going to see a lot more of like our value proposition." According to Toner, hotels and restaurants are cheaper in the Windsor-area compared to other parts of the province.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Rodale Institute joins Microsoft, YouTube, Nvidia on list of world's most innovative companies
Rodale Institute has joined the ranks of Microsoft, OpenAI and YouTube on Fast Company's annual list of the world's most innovative companies. The Maxatawny Township-based nonprofit was ranked fourth in the agriculture section of the 2025 list by the popular business magazine. This year's list recognizes 609 organizations across 58 sectors and regions. It showcases companies shaping the future through bold ideas, groundbreaking research and measurable impact, Rodale said in a release. Fast Company ranked robotaxi pioneer Waymo and GPU producer and tech giant Nvidia as first and second, respectively, on its 2025 overall list. 'Rodale Institute continues pioneering work in regenerative organic agriculture through scientific research, farmer training and education that demonstrates how agriculture can be a powerful solution to climate change, biodiversity loss and food insecurity,' the company said in a release. 'As the birthplace of the modern organic movement, Rodale Institute is filling the massive void of American land-grant institutions by revolutionizing farming and aiming to fix what is broken in our food system.' Jeff Tkach, chief executive officer of Rodale Institute, said innovation is central to the institute's mission. 'For more than 77 years, we have been leading the charge in regenerative organic farming and proving that agriculture can heal people and the planet,' Tkach said in the release. 'Being recognized as one of the world's most innovative companies affirms that our work is shaping the future of food and farming, offering real solutions to the global climate crisis while ensuring healthy, nutrient-dense food systems for people across the U.S. and beyond.' Through its 40-year Farming Systems Trial, farmer consulting and educational programs, Rodale Institute has equipped thousands of farmers across the country with the knowledge and resources needed to adopt regenerative organic practices, officials said. Rodale said it aims to transition 1 million acres of farmland to regenerative organic agriculture by 2035. In conjunction with this award, Tkach joined the Fast Company Impact Council, an exclusive, invitation-only collective of innovative leaders, Rodale said. The World's Most Innovative Companies is one of Fast Company's most anticipated editorial efforts of the year. To determine winners, Fast Company's editors and writers evaluate thousands of submissions from start-ups to some of the world's most valuable companies to determine, the release said. 'Our list of the Most Innovative Companies offers both a comprehensive look at innovation today and a playbook for the future,' Fast Company editor-in-chief Brendan Vaughan said in the release. 'This year, we recognize companies that are harnessing AI in deep and meaningful ways, brands that are turning customers into superfans by overdelivering for them and challengers that are introducing bold ideas and vital competition to their industries.' For more information about Rodale Institute, visit The full list of Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies can be found at
