Latest news with #FPV
Forbes
04-07-2025
- Forbes
First Known Attack By Underwater FPV Destroys Russian River Crossing
The submerged FPV, arrrowed, seconds before it detonated Following the drone war in Ukraine you get used to seeing some unusual things, from drones dropping Roman-era caltrops to burst tires to four FPVs lashed together to create a heavy lift drone. But this video of an underwater FPV destroying a Russian river crossing is definitely a first. (H/T to Tim White for spotting). Shrike Strike Submerged Shrike Special Edition In one sense this was no surprise. Back in February we reported on the Shrike Special Edition, a new version of Ukraine's Shrike FPV attack drone capable of landing in water, submerging, and then taking off again. The new drone was even demonstrated in a video released by Ukrainian drone expert Serhii Flash. At the time, it looked like the idea was for a new class of ambush drone, one that could lurk in ponds, lakes, flooded ditches, reservoirs and other watery hiding places and would be virtually impossible to spot. However, as the video shows, it has other uses too. Posted on Telegram by the Northen Eagle Battalion of the 151st Motorized Rifle Brigade, the video shows a river crossing in the Kharkiv region which has already been destroyed once. The remains of a road bridge can be seen in the water. The Russians have improvised a foot crossing over the gap with three logs the size of telegraph poles. Enhanced view of the underwater FPV used by Northern Eagles The video shows an FPV underwater nestled close to one end of the crossing. The drone blows up, with video pulling back to show that the crossing has been destroyed. (The caption says 'Underwater FPV…Destroying an enemy crossing'' and there is a link to donate to buy more drones). This might cause the Russians some inconvenience, but destroying three logs is not a major loss and the target could as easily have been attacked with a bomber drone or just a conventional FPV. Why expend a special drone to blow up some logs? Ambush Or Test Run? One possibility is that the Shrike was put in position to wait for soldiers to attempt to cross, and that hiding underwater was the best way to conceal it. Waiting in ambush uses power, and the drone's battery will have been running down. As the power bars started to dip, the operator may have chosen to detonate the drone rather risk it falling into enemy hands. (Some if not all FPVs are now rigged to explode if tampered with so letting them be captured is not always a bad idea, but nobody wants the Russians to capture a new design). There is also the possibility that this was a trial run, a test to see whether the submersible FPV could hit a bridge target in actual combat conditions. In this case the operator may have deliberately chosen a time when there were no Russian soldiers around to make the attack as straightforward as possible. One surprising feature is that the Shrike is downstream of the crossing. This is odd because the obvious way to attack a crossing like this would be to land upstream of the crossing and let the current carry it into place (like the floating bridge-busting bombs used in the Caroline Moon operation in Vietnam). It may be that the approach from that side was not possible, but the operator managed to get the drone precisely in position anyway. The video shows that submersible FPVs can destroy a target at or below water level. Knocking out three logs may not be significant, but successfully demonstrating a technology that can attack one of the toughest targets is far more important. The Kerch Bridge was damaged by explosives placed by a large underwater drone. A fleet of ... More submersible FPVs might carry out the same type of mission. In this case a single drone was used on one-way mission. But the submersible drone could have placed the explosives and then returned to get more, like the minelaying drones which are widely used. Have several Shrikes ferrying explosives to the same spot underwater and you can start talking about attacking serious targets like bridge supports which are usually challenging for air power. And flying drones may have a much better chance of bypassing defenses than robot submarines Underwater Evolution As we wrote previously, there are a lot of submersible multicopter drones out there in the consumer and academic sectors and even a few military ones. Some are designed to propel themselves underwater as well as in air. This tends to be very inefficient, but as this Chinese TJ Flying Fish shows, multicopters can submerge, and travel and maneuver underwater with high precision. Communication underwater is an issue but not an insoluble one. Small drones bring a transformational ability to rapidly deliver payloads several miles away with extreme precision. When this expands to include underwater targets, it opens up a whole new set of possibilities. This includes the intriguing possibility that FPVs could now target Russian submarines. The river crossing attack appears to be the first recorded underwater strike by an amphibious drone. Four months after being unveiled, the technology has been proven to work. Now we will see how it is used.
Leader Live
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Leader Live
Attempt to overturn approval of 300 homes in Hawarden rejected
A notice of motion was brought before Flintshire County Council by Cllr Alasdair Ibbotson of Flintshire Peoples Voice suggesting a number of incidents during the planning meeting on June 11, where the Castle Green development was approved, had fuelled concerns about the decision-making process. These included one councillor stating they had not read any of the objectors emails and another, before the meeting, referring to residents emails as 'c**p'. 'The planning committee meeting on the 11th of June marks, what we can surely all agree, is a new low,' he told the meeting of full council on Wednesday. 'The decision on the Ash Lane site was a farce from the very start – before the meeting had even begun – to the finish. 'We began with one councillor showing utter contempt for residents by calling objectors emails 'the c**p from Mancot residents'. If that language was used by a planning committee member about a developer there is no question a developer would take legal action to overturn the decision on the basis of prejudice. 'We then had a second councillor claim they had refused to read objections by the public as he had been instructed not to by planning officers.' Fellow FPV Cllr Sam Swash, who has represented opponents of the development in his Mancot ward, also spoke out. 'While that farce played out right in front of the residents who's lives it would affect, crucial planning considerations were brushed aside or conveniently ignored,' he said. 'Considerations that the very same committee used to reject other applications in the same meeting. 'Applications have been refused in Oakenholt and Northop Hall on grounds of overdevelopment, lack of infrastructure, inappropriate scale and density. Yet when those exact same issues were raised in relation to Ash Lane they were dismissed without meaningful engagement. 'Why? Because the site is allocated in the Local Development Plan.' Cllr Ibbotson's motion called for the council to apologise to residents, to recognise that not every proposal on land included in the Local Development Plan (LDP) be approved and that the Ash Lane decision be reversed. Read more: At the planning meeting on June 11 an apology for remarks made prior to the meeting – which were heard in the chamber – was made by Cllr Paul Cunningham to attendees. Cllr Allan Marshall – who was not named in the motion – told full council that the claim he had not read objections was incorrect. 'If they go back to the webcast and listen to what I said, they will see they've got it wrong. 'I've checked it, this is what I said: 'Firstly I have to declare that I have received over 160 emails regarding this development over the past few weeks. As instructed during the planning committee training I have not read any of them. I have responded with standard text to some, but not all, of them'.' Cllr Marshall later clarified that he had read objections formally posted in the planning portal – where all official documents relating to an application can be viewed. Chief planning officer Andy Farrow, addressing his final full council meeting before his retirement, assured elected members that due process had been followed in what he admitted had been a challenging planning committee meeting. 'The primary concern is that we follow the process,' he said 'There's been some slightly disrespectful things said about the way that meeting was held but I have to give credit to the chair on the day Cllr Gladys Healey – it was a challenging meeting but we did follow process. 'We've been through the evidence in terms of this site with respect to the Local Development Plan and concluded the principle of residential development on that site was acceptable. 'The meeting has been referred to as a farce. Just because you don't get the outcome you want doesn't mean it was a farce. What matters is that the process was followed and I saw nothing at that meeting or subsequently that shows process hasn't been followed.' Mr Farrow went on to clarify that members are not told not to read emails of objection but rather to ensure they respond without indicating the objection has influenced their thinking on an application, as this could be seen as prejudicial predetermination. Deputy leader of the council, Cllr Richard Jones supported Mr Farrow and the planning committee in responding to the motion. 'The planning committee meeting was certainly a difficult and emotional one,' he told councillors. 'But the committee did follow the established processes when considering all representations, dealing with third-party speakers and ultimately reaching a decision on the application taking into account all material considerations. 'Despite the concerns expressed in the notice of motion, planning committee took a reasonable and legitimate decision on the Ash Lane application. Whilst the composer of the motion may not be satisfied with the decision, if the process was flawed or the committee have erred in terms of law, that decision should be challenged by a judicial review.' Flintshire councillors rejected the motion 29-9, meaning the decision to approve the Ash Lane development remains valid.
Forbes
02-07-2025
- Forbes
Creeping Doom: Russia Deploys Solar Powered Ambush Drones
A Russian improvised solar drone seen in the Kherson region Drone video from near the Dnipro bridge in Kherson region shows a Russian FPV with an unusual modification: a sheet of solar cells draped over the body. This is a clumsy setup using available materials, but it may be the first battlefield example of a new type of drone, one that can wait in ambush indefinitely. An Upgrade For Ambush Drones As we have seen, FPV attack drones are increasingly used for ambushes. The operator lands their FPV by the side of a track or on a rooftop and waits for possible targets, alerted either by a spotter drone or using the drone's own camera. When one arrives, the drone takes off and goes in pursuit. A Ukrainian ambush drone spots a Russian Bukhanka logistics van The latest ambush FPVs are equipped with landing legs or skids so they can see over grass or other vegetation while landed. Fiber drones seem to be popular for ambush attacks, because the connection via a fiber optic cable uses less energy than maintaining video contact. This extends battery life so they can wait for longer. The Russians have also described a version of the Joker FPV able to hibernate, going into a sleep mode for days or weeks before being activated. There are no confirmed sightings of these in the field. Using solar power to keep the battery topped up potentially allows a drone to lie in ambush and watch for an extended, if not indefinite, period. Solar Powered Lurkers As OSINT analyst DanielR notes on a Twitter/X thread about the solar drone, there are a vast number of lightweight solar charging panels on the market. Carry one over your backpack and you can charge phones and other devices as you hike. They typically cost under $50, like this 5-watt unit weighing less than half a pound and are easily small enough to fit on a drone. Portable solar panel kit for charging phones and other devices. Such a unit should yield 15-45 watt-hours of energy per day, though this is wildly variable depending on conditions. An FPV may consume more than 100 Watts while flying, on the ground it may require as little as 7 Watt-hours per day so the solar charger can maintain it indefinitely in dormant mode. Keeping the camera and other electronics on will take 5 Watts or so, so a drone can stay 'awake' for as long as the sun shines. That may be the intention here. 'Using it to charge the battery is troublesome given the voltages involved,' DanielR told me. 'Instead, it's probably just connected to the 5-volt bus, which powers VTX [video transmission] and camera, without any additional circuitry.' Effectively the solar cell allows the drone to act as a CCTV sentry during daylight hours, saving battery power for when a target is spotted. Solar Hopper Drones The Aqua Quad is a U.S. Navy project for a floating, solar powered quadcopter Rigging up drones with commercial solar cells is easy enough, and there have been a huge number of projects in this field, from a 'simple weekend project' for hobbyists to build their own solar-powered quadcopters, to serious industrial and academic efforts like this 2022 study from the University of Washington which built a multicopter with folding solar cells and software to pick suitable landing sites. The drone could recharge in three hours and then fly for five minutes, making repeated short flights over long distances. The U.S. Navy's Aqua-Quad project is a similar concept, but with a floating drone carrying sonar sensor for submarine hunting. Swarms of Aqua-Quads could travel the seas like fleets of mobile sonobuoys. A CX10 toy drone fitted with 40 tiny ultra lightweight solar panels by the JKU team adding only .25% ... More to its weight The technology is becoming increasingly useful as solar cells become lighter and more efficient. When Researchers at the Johannes Kepler University Linz developed ultra-lightweight quasi-2D perovskite solar cells with a power output of up to 44 watts per gram in 2024, they demonstrated its effectiveness by attaching an array of cells to a CX10 toy quadcopter. The cells added just 0.25% to the drone's weight but could fully recharge the batteries. These hopper quadcopters are a long way being 'eternal drones' like the U.S. Navy's Skydweller which can fly indefinitely on solar and battery power. But small drones with unlimited mission time on the ground are still useful – and it looks like they are already be in use. Creeping Doom: The Solar Swarm Solar powered drones could form high-tech 'minefields.' These could be operator-controlled, like the current generation of ambush drones, or be cued to automatically attack targets which they detect or which are located by other uncrewed sensors. A large minefield might send one or two drones up on periodic sweeps to check the surrounding areas. The U.S Navy Skydweller drone is able to fly for weeks at a time powered by sunlight And because they can keep recharging, solar drones can be sent on extended missions into enemy territory, creeping forward in hops a few miles at a time. They might be slow, but they can fly low and stealthily. They will be difficult to stop over an entire border or front line. How many miles to the enemy's air base? The recently sighted Russian solar drone sighting might not be very effective, and it is not clear just how much benefit the solar cells give and at what penalty to flight performance. The positioning of the cells certainly looks like they interfere with the thrust from the rotors. But this clunky design may be the harbinger of another generation of FPVs with new and dangerous capabilities. The low cost and easy availability of all the necessary components means that drones can mutate fast, and any evolutionary successes – like fiber drones, which went from nothing to battle-winners in a year – may spread rapidly.(For those wanting more on this topic, there is a whole chapter on solar power and other energy-scavenging technology for extended drone missions in my book 'Swarm Troopers: How small drones will conquer the world)
Forbes
01-07-2025
- Forbes
Bringing The Detonator: How A Ukrainian FPV Destroyed A Russian Bridge
A single FPV was enough to bring down the railway bridge by detonating explosives placed by the ... More Russians A video released on June 27th shows an unusual FPV attack – one which destroyed a railway bridge north of Kupyansk which the Russians were using to transport supplies. It is an impressive strike by the 'Sky Ryders' unit, which succeeded by detonating explosives which the Russians had placed in case they needed to demolish the bridge. This is yet another example of how the extreme precision offered by FPV strikes more than compensates for the small payload. Much of the time the drone does not destroy the target, but rather, in a phrase coined by TX Hammes in 2016, it just 'brings the detonator' so the target destroys itself. We have seen tmany examples in the current conflict, including a number of other bridge demolitions. Bridge Dropping The Easy Way 'Bridge dropping' has always been one of the most challenging bombing missions. The target is small and even a near miss can have little effect. Only a direct hit on a bridge support will bring it down. In WWII, American B-24 Liberators dropped 1,219 bombs on the Myitnge bridge in Burma and scored just 18 hits, and the Japanese were able to repair damage. During the Vietnam war the vital Thanh Hoa bridge resisted many attempts to destroy it, including one massive raid in 1965 involving 30 F-105D Thunderchiefs dropping eight 750-pound bombs apiece. Even the new Walleye guided bombs failed to make an impact. Massive air strikes like this one failed to bring down the Thanh Hoa bridge during the conflict in ... More Vietnam By the time of the 1991 Gulf War the USAF was using laser-guided 2,000-pound bombs for bridge busting missions. Each mission typically involved a team of four F-111F Aardvark aircraft working together. The aircraft made successive passes, dropping one bomb at a time until the bridge was destroyed. The combination of laser precision and one-ton bombs was very effective, but required low-altitude bombing and was only possible because Iraqi air defenses had been neutralized. Ukraine does not have the luxury of this type of airpower, and faces strong air defence. Instead, the 'Sky Ryders' unit of the 116th Mechanized Brigade deployed a single FPV drone with a warhead of perhaps 4 pounds. The operator maneuvers the drone underneath the bridge and locates a demolition charge placed by the Russians. Bridges are often prepared for demolition where there is a risk that they might fall into enemy hands. This is a complex process taking hours, so explosives need to be emplaced ahead of time. If the enemy is already advancing on a bridge it may be too late. (In one action in 2022, when remote detonation failed Ukrainian engineer Vitalii Skakun sacrificed himself by blowing up Henichesk Bridge manually, significantly slowing the Russian advance). A reconnaissance drone likely noted the exact position of the explosive charge so the FPV operator could fly straight to it. Video from an overwatch drone shows the charge is detonated and the entire span destroyed. An FPV flown by the elite Birds of Magyar unit flies through bridge supports on its way to setting ... More off demolition charges This is not by any means a unique case. A similar video from April released by the renowned Birds of Magyar shows the destruction of another Russian bridge by the same method. In this case the FPV is specified as being controlled by a fiber optic cable – this ensures that communications are not lost when the drone dips out of sight, which can affect a radio link. The Russians have also used the same tactic. Videos on social media from March claim to show a bridge east of Sudzha demolished by an FPV which set off explosives positioned at the base of the concrete supports, though it is not clear how much damage was done. Another video last month is claimed to show a bridge in northern Siversk similarly damaged by a Russian FPV setting off demolition charges. In this case the entire span has been downed. Detonating Everything In fact, the Russians might be said to have originated the tactic of using small drones to bring the detonator with their series of sabotage attacks against Ukrainian ammunition depots in 2017. In one strike on Balakliya in Eastern Ukraine, drones dropping thermite grenades reportedly caused a billion dollars' worth of damage and destroyed thousands of tons of munitions. This might now be seen as a strategic move to deprive Ukraine of much-needed artillery ammunition in the subsequent invasion. A Russian tank explodes after being hit by an FPV, as the drone strike detonates stored ammunition. But bringing the detonator also operates at the most tactical of scales. When an FPV destroys a tank – sometimes in a dramatic fireball – most of the damage is not caused by the drone warhead but by the detonation of stored fuel and ammunition. This is more obvious when artillery is targeted, such as a recent strike on a Russian truck-mounted rocket launcher supplied by North Korea. The launcher is in the lowered position for transport, and when the FPV hits it sets off rockets, with one firing through the cab before everything blows up. An empty truck would be much less vulnerable. Equally when Ukrainian FPVs struck parked Russian bombers in Operation Spiderweb, the small explosive charges on the drones were merely detonators. If the aircraft had no fuel or munitions they might have escaped minor damage. But fueled up and carrying cruise missiles, the aircraft were easily set ablaze and destroyed. This capability will become more important as we see more long-range attacks, including those by FPV carriers above to deliver small drones to targets hundreds of miles away. Under the right circumstances, a small drone can destroy even the most robust concrete structure simply by bringing the detonator.
LeMonde
25-06-2025
- Politics
- LeMonde
The anxiety of Ukrainians in the Sumy region as the Russian army advances: 'We live day by day, but for now, we don't want to leave'
Somber police officers donned their bulletproof vests on Wednesday, June 18, as one started the armored minivan in the small courtyard of an apartment building in Sumy, the capital of the Ukrainian region of the same name, which borders Russia. That day's mission was to evacuate a family with two children from the small village of Bilopillia, located about 10 kilometers from the Russian border. In recent weeks, the area had become increasingly dangerous as Russian artillery and FPV (first-person view, or remotely piloted) drones began to strike it. Bilopillia was just one of dozens of villages where residents were advised to evacuate after the Russian army launched an offensive to the North of the Sumy region. "The Russians are flying their FPV drones over the town," said Viktoriia Kiritchenko, 46, who came from her village of Vorozhba with her son, Dmytro, after their house was partially damaged by the explosion of a powerful guided aerial bomb. "Some people continue living in these villages, even after their homes have been hit," said Alyona Stavitsakaya, a member of the White Angels, a police force in charge of evacuations. "Over time, the sense of danger fades and people get used to it." Under threat, Sumy is holding its breath as Russian forces are now only about 20 kilometers from the city center, following the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the Russian region of Kursk. In recent weeks, according to DeepState, a military analysis website close to the Ukrainian army in Kyiv, Kremlin forces have managed to take control of 200 square kilometers on the Ukrainian side of the border. The front line is drawing closer, and now the echoes of artillery can be heard even in the center of Sumy. Provocative − and evidently confident in his army's abilities − the Russian president also declared on June 20 that he "had not ruled out" capturing the city of Sumy.
