North Korean soldiers fighting for Russia are still causing problems for Ukrainian forces more than a year after they were first deployed in support of Moscow's war. The North Korean soldiers who were deployed to Russia's Kursk region to thwart a Ukrainian incursion were initially tasked with brutal infantry assaults that resulted in high casualties. Their role has since shifted to drone reconnaissance and artillery operations.
Russia often mixes up how it attacks Ukraine with ballistic and cruise missiles - from firing decoys to tweaking trajectories midflight - and Kyiv says it's funneling that battlefield intel to US Patriot interceptor makers to inform upgrades for better performance. "They are trying to use different tactics and make some adjustments for their ballistic missiles," Yehor Cherniev, the deputy chairman of the Ukrainian parliamentary committee on national security, defense, and intelligence, said of the Russian strikes.
Swedish defense prime Saab is exploring the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System as a cheaper armament option for its JAS 39 Gripen fighters, firm executives told Business Insider this week. "The APKWS is in interest because other platforms are now integrating 70mm guided rockets. So we are, of course, eyeing that capability now," Jussi Halmetoja, operations advisor for Saab's air domain, said at the Singapore Airshow. Halmetoja said the company was looking at ways to integrate the weapons system, which uses a guided version of the Hydra 70mm rocket, onto its older Gripen C and latest Gripen E models.
Ukrainian forces struck a major industrial site deep inside Russia's Udmurt region, the Ukrainian General Staff said on Saturday. The attack was confirmed by local officials. "One of the republics facilities was attacked by drones" launched by Ukraine, regional head Alexander Brechalov said in a Telegram post. The Ukrainian military said it used domestically produced Flamingo missiles to hit the plant, located about 1,400 kilometers (800 miles) from Ukraine.
Facing an existential crisis, the Ukrainians had to develop a way to counter hostile forces cheaply yet with mass. That meant figuring out how to turn inexpensive drones into weaponry, a step that quickly and fundamentally changed how the war was being fought. Now, drones carry out 80% of all battlefield hits and are responsible for most combat casualties.
The leader of Ukraine's special drone branch said his operators are striking advancing Russian infantry at extreme close range, providing rare insight into how some of the country's best pilots are fighting. Maj. Robert "Madyar" Brovdi, the commander of the Unmanned Systems Forces, wrote in a statement on Sunday that his pilots have, over the last month, been engaging enemy troops at an average strike depth of 1.44 km, or 0.89 miles, from the line of contact.
Ukrainian special forces have struck deep into Russian-controlled territory, targeting ammo depots, logistics hubs, and command posts, the SBU said yesterday. The Alpha Special Operations Center carried out precision raids on key enemy military infrastructure, crippling the invaders' ability to manage troops, resupply, and plan new attacks. "These strikes hit the enemy where it hurts most," the SBU said on Telegram. "We are disrupting their operations and slowing down their war machine."
There was a certain amount of awareness, there was kind of a frustration with the missions that we were being called on to carry out, the people flying the missions, they knew that we were kind of wasting drones. For militaries that have the luxury of time and maybe the luxury of money, I think moving into sort of something a little bit more sophisticated makes more sense.