One aspect of the current conflict in #Ukraine which isn't being (publicly) discussed much is DIY or locally developed "drones" usage for advanced warfare.
I wrote this a while ago exploring the current and near future possibilities of "DIY drone warfare" osinteditor.com/researches/ope…
Its easy to assume that Ukraine is well beyond the "DIY" level described in the article, which while covering different scenarios should give a general idea of the possibilities available today.
After all in 2014 and 2015 they where fast to recognise the value of the tech and employ it creatively on the battlefield. With local designs , modifications to commercial ones and custom combat tactics developed around them. They also learned to adapt to #Russia EW efforts.
Small & gov financed teams can come up rapidly with many experimental designs which even in small numbers can bring significative advantages in the current battlefield.
Leaving this here as food for thought, deeper analysis & more info or even just speculation will have to come later with more data AND no risk to expose current efforts. But I think we will at some point find out of some clever stuff being done....
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A thread on small drones jamming and apparent lack of it in current #UkraineRussiaWar
Will simplify a lot things to give a general idea of what is going (or not going) on. #Ukraine#russia
We have been seeing a lot of HQ videos from what appear to be commercial drones in this conflict, even being used clearly for combat purposes (as artillery spotting etc). It comes natural to ask how is this possible especially given the assumed technology of #Russia military.
First its important to isolate the 2 main, radio wave based, systems in a small drone that are most susceptible to jamming :
- GPS signal (position)
- Communications signal (control/video)
With ECLIPSE transiting Gibraltar I'm getting tons of messages regarding her being seized while at sea.
Well, its called piracy and its a crime as per UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) or more generally, International Law.
Fast thread 🧵
Vessels in international waters cannot be attacked, inspected, seized etc. Same applies to vessels transiting straits (as Gibraltar), in which case even if technically inside the "territorial waters" of a country, they are protected by UNCLOS.
Even US can't stop sanctions violating Iranian tankers at sea. And while Gibraltar was the theatre of the seizing of GRACE 1 (#Iran) years ago, that happened because the tanker was stopping to "fill up" in the British waters (so technically it wasn't transiting)
#Russia oligarchs #YachtWatch map v18:
-ECLIPSE is crossing Gibraltar now
-MY SOLARIS reached Tivat, Montenegro a #NATO country...
-❌ added on "SAILING YACHT A" 🇮🇹👊🍾
-NORD has left the Seychelles sailing ... well, north.
Been asked a lot about AIS, why some times positions aren't transmitted, if it is legal or if it is evidence of occultation attempts a couple of points:
-Many vessels don't have satellite AIS but rely on radio transmission which simply won't reach far enough to be received by ground stations. So when positions stop updating at sea, its often perfectly normal
All UK Defence Intelligence maps since the start of the war in #Ukraine in a practical animation to show the progress (and/or lack of) of #Russia invasion.
Will try to make it daily and improve it in next versions.
Also... Dear UK DI map guy... I love you as this maps are a great resource but I also hate you profoundly... Why each single map has a slightly different scale (not even proportional) and layout ?!?
Here some of the most famous Russian oligarchs yachts and their current (22/2/2022) location around the world.
Many are in western waters where, according to the owner ties to Putin, might/should be seized... #Russia#Ukraine#sanctions
CLIO, the yacht owned by Oleg Deripaska, was missed by marinetraffic.com terrestrial ais receivers but vesselfinder.com has a more up-do-date position for her, suggesting she could now be in the Baa Atoll (Maldives),close to where NIRVANA of Vladimir Potanin is
Same day Putin begun restoring the Soviet Union, oligarch Roman Abramovich new yacht, MY SOLARIS, was rushed out of dry dock and appears to be getting readied to leave Barcelona (#Spain)
Being a good sanctions candidate, hope the departure can be halted... #Russia#Ukraine#OSINT
The shipyard in Barcelona is the same one used by Putins yacht in the past years, for reference :
At the same time, Abramovich other yacht, the even bigger ECLIPSE, left port in Saint Martin and its currently enjoying the sun in front of one of the island beaches. Being the Caribbean paradise under EU control, might want to be sure it doesn't leave its waters too...