David Axe

268 posts

David Axe is a writer and filmmaker in South Carolina in the United States.

5 minute read

Military tech

For two years, Ukraine’s strikes barely scratched Russia’s war factories. Something just changed.

The warheads finally got heavy enough to leave damage that lasts—and Ukraine's drones cleared the air defenses that used to stop the missiles short.

A Ukrainian air force MiG-29 carrying GBU-39s.

5 minute read

Military tech

Ukraine lost three fighters in one day—one outranged in the air, two caught on the ground. The Gripen fixes both

A Russian missile downed one MiG from beyond the range it could shoot back; drones caught the other two parked. The Swedish jet that arrives next year is built against exactly these losses.

Russian potemkin flags photo ops planted in Lyman

4 minute read

Russo-Ukrainian war 2022-2026

Russians keep raising “Potemkin flags” in Lyman. They’re no closer to capturing it.

Scattered reports of Russian flags flying over Lyman don't indicate new Russian positions in the front-line city. Lyman holds.

4 minute read

Military tech

Russia is bolting World War II-style bridges onto armored tractors. They’re slow—and Ukraine’s drones are fast

Every bridge over the Vovcha is gone, so Russian crews drive improvised spans into the river and bail out—leaving the vehicles behind as makeshift bridges. The drones find them anyway.

Ruins in Kostyntynivka, Donetsk Oblast, May 2025.

5 minute read

Russo-Ukrainian war 2022-2026

After eight months, Kostiantynivka is falling. Why some Ukrainian commanders would rather fight the open fields behind it

Russia's first strategic win of the year is a ruined city—and Ukraine's drone-centric defense may not miss it the way it once would have.

5 minute read

Military tech

For three years, Russia glide-bombed Ukraine in escorted pairs. Now Ukraine is glide-bombing Russia the same way.

High-flying escorts are protecting Ukraine's glide bombers from Russian jets. It's a familiar tactic.

5 minute read

Military tech

Ukraine’s $50,000 drone just did what only $500,000 munitions could

Ukrainian drone-maker Fire Point has tweaked its iconic FP-1 drone to travel three times as far as before.

4 minute read

Military tech

Russia sent quad bikes to clear a minefield. Ukraine’s drones did the rest.

Mines blast Russian assault groups from below. To clear a path, one Russian field army modified an all-terrain vehicle.

5 minute read

Military tech

Ukraine’s newest drones don’t need Starlink. Russia spends $1.5 million to jam it anyway.

Onboard AI lets the newest drones find their own targets—nothing for a jammer to break.

Russian Tupolev 22M3 Strategic Bomber aircraft. Photo via the Tupolev website.

5 minute read

Russo-Ukrainian war 2022-2026

Russia hides its cruise missiles inside drone swarms. A handful of bombers do the rest.

A Tu-22M3 crash in Irkutsk exposes a darker paradox: Russia's bomber fleet keeps shrinking, but Russia's bombing keeps getting smarter.

Ukrainian Abrams tank fitted with modular cage-style protection designed to counter FPV drone strikes on the front line, as crews adapt Western armor to modern battlefield threats. Photo: Ukraine’s 160th Separate Mechanized Brigade

4 minute read

Military tech

Ukraine’s newest Abrams brigade just built the “dumbest” tank cage of the war. In 2026, that barely matters.

The 160th Mechanized Brigade is an odd choice to operate some of Ukraine's approximately 50 surviving M-1 tanks.

5 minute read

Military tech

Russia may soon have more tanks than pre-war. It just can’t use them.

To do it, Russia revived "previously unrecoverable" Soviet engines. The drones that destroyed the originals haven't gone anywhere.

5 minute read

Russo-Ukrainian war 2022-2026

Russia tried to surround Lyman. Now its own salient is getting squeezed.

Lyman blocks the northern route to Kramatorsk and Sloviansk. Ukrainian counterattacks are protecting the city.

A Ukrainian mobile fire team with a mounted machine gun patrols a rural area to hunt incoming Shahed drones.

4 minute read

Russo-Ukrainian war 2022-2026

Ukraine’s drones now have Russian convoys riding out with four gun trucks and a prayer

Until last month the trucks rolled out unarmed—now 71% of them have vanished from the M-14 entirely.

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David Axe

For two years, Ukraine’s strikes barely scratched Russia’s war factories. Something just changed.

Ukraine lost three fighters in one day—one outranged in the air, two caught on the ground. The Gripen fixes both

Russians keep raising “Potemkin flags” in Lyman. They’re no closer to capturing it.

Russia is bolting World War II-style bridges onto armored tractors. They’re slow—and Ukraine’s drones are fast

After eight months, Kostiantynivka is falling. Why some Ukrainian commanders would rather fight the open fields behind it

For three years, Russia glide-bombed Ukraine in escorted pairs. Now Ukraine is glide-bombing Russia the same way.

Ukraine’s $50,000 drone just did what only $500,000 munitions could

Russia sent quad bikes to clear a minefield. Ukraine’s drones did the rest.

Ukraine’s newest drones don’t need Starlink. Russia spends $1.5 million to jam it anyway.

Russia hides its cruise missiles inside drone swarms. A handful of bombers do the rest.

Ukraine’s newest Abrams brigade just built the “dumbest” tank cage of the war. In 2026, that barely matters.

Russia may soon have more tanks than pre-war. It just can’t use them.

Russia tried to surround Lyman. Now its own salient is getting squeezed.

Ukraine’s drones now have Russian convoys riding out with four gun trucks and a prayer

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