For drone technology, the Ukraine-Russia war is Broadway, the big time. American drones, unfortunately, can still only play off off off-Broadway. From Simplicius at simplicius76.substack.com:
In the vein of Western institutions finally coming around to realities long-known to most of us, this new Economist piece braves the humiliation of having to admit some harsh truths about Western weapons:
The piece centers on the massive disappointment that Western drones have brought with them on the Ukrainian battlefield. Read below how the West was hoodwinked into drinking its own bathwater by the so-called “success” its drones experienced in total mismatch “wars” like Iraq and Afghanistan:
AMERICAN SWITCHBLADE drones were once cutting-edge. Fast, clever and precise, they were essential kit for special forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. But when a batch of Switchblade-300s reached Ukraine in 2022, high hopes were quickly shattered. The drones were too expensive. They struggled against Russian electronic warfare. They caused minimal damage when they hit their targets. “When we tested them, they glitched under jamming conditions,” says Valery Borovyk, a military-drone developer. “When one hit the rear window of a minibus, the front windows didn’t even shatter.”
It really is a tragicomic tale.
But muh wunderfwaffen?
Got washing machine parts?