With Trump wavering on Nato and war in Ukraine, Europe is scrambling to spend billions on weapons such as drones
In a small workshop in England’s East Midlands, engineers at the British startup Skycutter are designing weapons for Ukraine. A row of 3D printers make the fuselage for interceptor drones, while parts such as motors and navigation chips are slotted together by hand. The same process happens hundreds of thousands of times a month in partner Ukrainian factories.
The swarms of cheap, deadly and often autonomous drones deployed in that war have already changed combat completely. Troops far behind the frontline must move constantly to avoid attack from the air, travelling along netted tunnels and landscapes crisscrossed by fibre optic cables used to steer drones past radio jamming. Cities are terrorised by guided missiles that are cheaper and therefore more widely used than those that came before.
Skycutter’s use of 3D printers and manual assembly in Ukrainian factories shows how innovation is adapting to wartime needs.
It’s scary how cheap drones are changing warfare—troops can’t even stay still behind the frontlines anymore.
The arms trade keeps fuelling conflicts like this across the globe. (5c3b99)
Europe finally waking up to defence sovereignty after relying on US for so long—about time we build our own low-cost weapons.
The fiber optic cables to beat jamming is clever, but how long until Russia finds a way to counter that too?
This has all the hallmarks of a protracted stalemate with no off ramp. (6d0c93)
Billions on drones sounds good, but we’ve seen how fast tech becomes obsolete in this war—hope they’re not wasting money.
If Trump pulls out of NATO, Europe needs to be ready. These interceptor drones from startups like Skycutter are a step in the right direction.
No military solution has ever brought lasting peace to this region. (fd00d3)
Both sides seem dug in with no real willingness to compromise. (be7485)
The use of advanced weaponry in populated areas is a war crime by any definition. (d63055)
The amount of disinformation surrounding this is staggering. (971eb2)
When does the cycle of retaliation ever actually stop? (c850c5)