1/ QUICK THEAD that continues the topic of Russia’s dependence on Chinese and imported comments for domestic quadcopter production - additional comments from CAST, one of Russia’s main defense think tanks. More below: https://t.co/j4ll3rf5FR
2/ “The accusations of "copying" are strange enough in themselves, since at the current stage this should be considered rather a plus. The mania of the domestic defense industry for the invention of "unparalleled" products is quite often harmful…”
3/ “…and in many cases copying the best and most developed foreign designs and concepts would be much more profitable. The Chinese themselves, as you know, are not at all shy about this, actively copying everything they can.”
4/ “Therefore, the use of a mass-produced quadcopter common model as a prototype, especially under tight deadlines, if it was, deserves approval, not censure.”
5/ “The main criticism was caused by the "inflated" price of "Dobrynya" drone in comparison with mass-produced Chinese drones in this class. We will only point out that the requirement to produce products at the "Chinese" price in itself is simply not serious.”
6/ “No one can now compete with the Chinese "world factory" in terms of production efficiency. It is precisely because of the low cost of production in China that the industry of the whole world is moving to China, including from the most developed countries.”
7/ “The domestic and foreign markets for Chinese drone manufacturers, and therefore their production volumes, are so colossal that no Russian manufacturer can even dream of them.”
8/ “Wishes for Russian manufacturers to work with Chinese efficiency and cost are a complete utopia. Small-scale (compared to Chinese volumes) production of anything in Russia will always be obviously more expensive than in China.”
9/ “Let us also note that in general there is an unfounded myth about the supposedly low cost of defense products in Russia. In fact, taking into account the fact that the defense industry of the Russian Federation is fully affected by…”
10/ “…all the problems of domestic material production, which is generally inefficient and expensive by world standards, with a narrow market, there can be no talk of any special cheapness of military equipment and weapons in the Russian Federation.”
11/ “Such an anomaly of the relative cheapness of military production existed in the planned economy of the USSR (and then in the form of a "Soviet traces" in the 1990s and early 2000s), but miracles do not happen…”
12/ “…this cheapness was compensated by the high cost, inefficiency and deficits in other sectors of the Soviet economic system that actually subsidized the Soviet defense industry.”
13/ “Today, Almaz-Antey is required to mass-produce such drones in the thousands per month, without interruptions in supply and without significant and long-term external investment in production. "Almaz-Antey" claims that it has already organized all this.”
14/ “Any claims can be made not against Almaz-Antey, but against the highest authorities, who have not been able since the spring to carry out a genuine mobilization of state and private industry for truly mass development and production of small drones.”
15/ “We need hundreds of models of small drones and loitering munitions that could be produced at hundreds of enterprises/firms, selecting the best and most viable samples - just like in the World War 1 when such production could solve the problem of producing artillery shells”
16/ “Any realist should understand that in this case, 99% of manufacturers would have either the drones themselves or their components from the same Aliexpress. Therefore, Almaz-Antey's initiative deserves every possible encouragement, not attacks.” t.me/bmpd_cast/14027
1/5 QUICK TAKE from Rus mil bloggers on the importance of FPVs in combat: "In recent years, it has become clear: the front has changed. FPV drones have proven themselves to be at their best, literally and figuratively. They are cheap, accessible, adaptable. They..." t.me/MariaBerlinska…
2/5 "They fly where traditional means are powerless. They fight 24/7, without sleep, fear or fatigue. Behind every operator is the art of control, behind every drone is astonishing efficiency. More and more resources - personnel, technology, financial - are now concentrated here."
3/5 "The industry is adapting. Budgets are being rewritten. Tactics are being rethought. Electronic warfare systems, autonomous routes, AI tracking algorithms, mobile launch stations - everything is developing around FPVs."
1/ QUICK TAKE by Rus mil bloggers on the technical aspects of today's Ukrainian drone strike: "FPV control was carried out via mobile networks (4G, LTE and the like). The bandwidth of modern mobile networks is more than enough to perform such tasks." t.me/ZarodinuVmeste…x.com/United24media/…
2/ "There were no ground control stations and, especially, no saboteur operators nearby. The truck driver in particular and the logistics chain in general are another story that our special services will have to figure out."
3/ "The FPV drone was controlled via the ARDUPILOT software and hardware solution (system). Absolutely the same solution on the "Baba Yagas", only instead of the Starlink terminal, there is an LTE modem with an Ethernet output, to which a single-board PC a la "Raspberry/Orange"."
1/ QUICK TAKE by Rus commentators on the consequences of today's strike: "Reinforcement of air defense will be necessary - not only from fixed-wing (Ukr) drones, but also from FPV drones, specially since there has already been an experience of such an attack in Machulishchi, where (our) A-50 was damaged. Obviously, the security at the airfield was not prepared for this type of attack." t.me/boris_rozhin/1…
2/ "Strengthening counter-intelligence and counter-terrorist measures. The enemy was able to prepare and carry out a complex operation on our territory. This is a clear failure of the special services that allowed this to happen."
3/ "The drone revolution is not over. It should be taken into account that the options for using kamikaze attack drones will only become more numerous in the future. The possibility of using drones from hidden carriers (containers, ships with containers, trucks) is not new..."
1/ QUICK THREAD on the key military tech seen during Russia's May 9 Victory Day parade in Moscow. Since 2022, such parades have been getting smaller in scale as more and more mil tech was used in the ongoing Ukraine invasion. Was this year different?
2/ The parade was opened by a T-34 WW2 tank, just like last year. This year, multiple T-34s went through the Red Square, compared to a single tank in 2024.
3/ Multiple armored vehicles, APC and IFV types followed.
1/5 What will the future tank look like? Russa's Uralvagonzavod, the main manufacturer of Rus tanks, offered the following ideas: The prospective tanks will receive echeloned protection and more powerful guns, will receive standard radars and UAVs... ria.ru/20250328/tank-…
2/5 ...will be designed according to the modular principle and have an optional crew. "To date, (we) have already developed a significant portion of these technologies, and are working on the implementation of this scientific and technical potential."
3/5 At the same time, Uralvagonzavod noted that even with completely unmanned tanks, their size is unlikely to be significantly reduced given the need to carry medium and large caliber weapons...
1/ QUICK TAKE by a Russian volunteer on what happens to the "People's VPK" - a vast ecosystem of Rus volunteer and start up efforts that manufacture and supply Russian forces with drones, CUAS and other equipment. Translation of main points below: t.me/rogozin_alexey…
2/ "If we imagine a scenario in which the SVO (war) is suspended, the first to feel the consequences will not be the quasi-state defense enterprises, but the so-called people's military-industrial complex: those same hundreds of private companies and teams of enthusiasts who..."
3/ "...in two years, have transformed from garage workshops into independent production chains. These structures grew out of the urgent and often informal needs of the troops. When drones were needed at the front "yesterday", when according to the classic logic..."