David Axe

337 posts

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

Official art depicting a Fire Point FP-1 drone.

4 minute read

Military tech

Russian vehicles can now shrug off cheap drones. Near Huliaipole, Ukrainian pilots are sending one they can’t

The 237th Unmanned Systems Battalion is aiming heavy drones, usually saved for targets far behind the front, at single armored vehicles, trading one expensive drone for a near-certain kill.

6 minute read

Russo-Ukrainian war 2022-2026

How can Ukraine defend against 190 ballistic missiles a month? In October, it stopped 7%

Russia aims to turn out Ukraine's lights and turn off its heat. The Patriot missiles will not come in time.

A T-64 tank in service with the 125th Heavy Mechanized Brigade.

5 minute read

Latest news

Most Ukrainian brigades are short of troops. One that filled its ranks is helping push Russia back in Operation Vivaldi.

That brigade is the 125th Heavy Mechanized, a rare exception in an army where almost every unit fights short-handed, and its turnaround is one reason Operation Vivaldi worked.

5 minute read

Russo-Ukrainian war 2022-2026

A new Ukrainian heavy brigade is getting whatever tanks are left over. Most of the army is short of armor and troops, too

And this is arguably the main driver of Ukraine's robotics and drone strategy

5 minute read

Military tech

Ukraine and the Netherlands team up on missile defense as Europe plans its own missile killer, free of US approval

The best time to intercept an incoming ballistic missile is when it's just halfway to its target. Can Ukraine afford this capability?

5 minute read

Russo-Ukrainian war 2022-2026

Ukraine may already be pushing Operation Vivaldi across the Zherebets River. It’s a risky gamble

Two mappers put Ukrainian troops on the river’s eastern bank this week, including at Terny, where Russia crossed in 2024 and kept pushing until Vivaldi drove it back.

First flight of an F-16 Block 70 from Lockheed Martin's Greenville factory in 2023.

5 minute read

Military tech

This is the fancy new F-16 Ukraine could get. It’s not what its pilots need most.

Ukraine could buy newly built F-16 Block 70/72s from U.S. firm Lockheed Martin. But that's not the greatest need.

Elon Musk: “Starlink will never turn off for Ukraine”

6 minute read

Russo-Ukrainian war 2022-2026

Starlink helped Ukraine pull off Operation Vivaldi. Now Starlink could help Russia take the ground back

The operation retook 277 square kilometers north of Lyman. The drones that now hold that line lose their Starshield link above about 160 km/h.

Bars jet-powered drone. Photo: Museum of the Russian-Ukrainian War

4 minute read

Military tech

Ukraine’s answer to Russia’s jet Shaheds: a jet drone named Bars, built to strike Russia and now turned around to hunt them

Zelenskyy says it has the best hit rate of any Ukrainian interceptor against the jet drones, about 30%, but the small jet engines it needs may be in short supply.

take off formation fly low navigate terrain—ukraine's f-16 trainees finished uk course russia helped design · post ukraine's air force carrying aim-120c aim-9 missiles fuel tanks terma pylons self-defense systems

5 minute read

Military tech

Belgium’s 10 F-16s bring Ukraine’s promised fleet to about 100 jets. Fewer than 40 are flying, as Russia’s jet drones run them ragged

The rest arrive in batches through 2029, and every sortie against Russia's jet drones brings the jets already in Ukraine closer to long inspections abroad.

russia's secret aviation report fighter jet clipped its own shelter gate 500 kg bomb fell takeoff helicopter came home printer-paper-sized hole nine engine failures three weeks · post russian su-34

5 minute read

Russo-Ukrainian war 2022-2026

Russia still parks its best bombers in the open. Ukraine has spent a year knocking out the air defenses that were supposed to protect them

The Russian air force parked six Sukhoi Su-34 fighter-bombers out in the open at a base within reach of Ukraine's Neptune cruise missiles. Now at least four are wreckage.

5 minute read

Russo-Ukrainian war 2022-2026

Russia is losing the Black Sea grain war it started. Its answer is to sink civilian ships off Romania and Bulgaria

The burning ships off Romania and Bulgaria are the latest round of a contest Ukraine opened this summer, when it began choking Russia’s own Black Sea exports

5 minute read

Russo-Ukrainian war 2022-2026

Russia is back at Dobropillia a year after it failed there. Now it’s the southern jaw of a pincer on Donbas’s last big free cities

This time Russia brought another army, and Dobropillia’s defenders have until the leaves fall to stop it.

4 minute read

Latest news

Ukraine sent a spiked tank and a Bradley into Russian drone fire. The spikes held, and Ukraine’s own drones got them home

Armored vehicles aren't dead on arrival anymore on the drone-patrolled battlefield. Friendly drones can escort them to the fight.

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David Axe

Russian vehicles can now shrug off cheap drones. Near Huliaipole, Ukrainian pilots are sending one they can’t

How can Ukraine defend against 190 ballistic missiles a month? In October, it stopped 7%

Most Ukrainian brigades are short of troops. One that filled its ranks is helping push Russia back in Operation Vivaldi.

A new Ukrainian heavy brigade is getting whatever tanks are left over. Most of the army is short of armor and troops, too

Ukraine and the Netherlands team up on missile defense as Europe plans its own missile killer, free of US approval

Ukraine may already be pushing Operation Vivaldi across the Zherebets River. It’s a risky gamble

This is the fancy new F-16 Ukraine could get. It’s not what its pilots need most.

Starlink helped Ukraine pull off Operation Vivaldi. Now Starlink could help Russia take the ground back

Ukraine’s answer to Russia’s jet Shaheds: a jet drone named Bars, built to strike Russia and now turned around to hunt them

Belgium’s 10 F-16s bring Ukraine’s promised fleet to about 100 jets. Fewer than 40 are flying, as Russia’s jet drones run them ragged

Russia still parks its best bombers in the open. Ukraine has spent a year knocking out the air defenses that were supposed to protect them

Russia is losing the Black Sea grain war it started. Its answer is to sink civilian ships off Romania and Bulgaria

Russia is back at Dobropillia a year after it failed there. Now it’s the southern jaw of a pincer on Donbas’s last big free cities

Ukraine sent a spiked tank and a Bradley into Russian drone fire. The spikes held, and Ukraine’s own drones got them home

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