Drones (Pilotless Planes)
How Ukraine’s Army Is Pioneering Anti-Drone Warfare
Ukraine shot down the first such drone in the country’s east on Sept. 13 and has since downed at least 237, the Ukrainian military said in a statement last week. “We are trying to quickly adapt to the new reality,” Mr. Sak said. The State of the War Exploding drones are a rapidly emerging class […]
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How the C.I.A. Tracked the Leader of Al Qaeda
WASHINGTON — Intelligence officers made a crucial discovery this spring after tracking Ayman al-Zawahri, the leader of Al Qaeda, to Kabul, Afghanistan: He liked to read alone on the balcony of his safe house early in the morning. Analysts search for that kind of pattern-of-life intelligence, any habit the C.I.A. can exploit. In al-Zawahri’s case, […]
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For the Taliban, a New Era of Isolation Has Arrived
Hours after an American drone strike killed the leader of Al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahri, in downtown Kabul, Taliban security forces rushed to seal off the site. Green tarps were thrown over destroyed windows. Checkpoints were put up, and shops were closed. But there was no hiding the damage that had been done to the Taliban’s […]
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As Russia Runs Low on Drones, Iran Plans to Step In, U.S. Officials Say
WASHINGTON — The White House disclosure last week that Russia is seeking hundreds of armed and unarmed surveillance drones from Iran to use in the war in Ukraine reflects Moscow’s need to both fill a critical battlefield gap and find a long-term supplier of a crucial combat technology, U.S. intelligence, military and independent analysts say. […]
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U.S. Military Says Senior ISIS Leader in Syria Killed in Drone Strike
WASHINGTON — The U.S. military carried out a drone strike in Syria on Tuesday that officials said killed a top Islamic State commander, the third major American counterterrorism operation in the country’s northwest in the past month. The attack killed Maher al-Agal, the leader of the terrorist group’s Syria branch and one of its top […]
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One Village at a Time: The Grinding Artillery War in Ukraine
The advances by the Ukrainian army in the north have been modest, but they are emblematic of both sides’ strategy: maneuvering artillery to gain territory. May 6, 2022 RUSKA LOZOVA, Ukraine — The Ukrainian major had a few tasks to complete as he made the rounds along his army battalion’s front line. One platoon commander […]
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Snap Unveils a Flying Drone Camera Called Pixy
Snap, the maker of the Snapchat messaging app, has long positioned itself as a camera company. On Thursday, it unveiled a flying one. Called Pixy, the drone camera can help people take selfies without the aid of a selfie stick. Users hold the pocket-size camera in their palm and select a flight mode via a […]
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Yemen’s Houthis Went From Ragtag Militia to Force Threatening Gulf Powers
BEIRUT, Lebanon — When a band of scrappy rebels known as the Houthis stormed out of the mountains of northern Yemen in 2014 and took over the capital, Sana, their friends and foes alike dismissed them as unsophisticated tribal fighters running around in sandals and armed with cheap guns. But during the civil war that […]
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For the U.S., a Tenuous Balance in Confronting Russia
WASHINGTON — In the first weeks of the first major European land war of the 21st century, the United States has sent tank-killing weapons to Ukrainian forces, but not fighter jets. It is equipping embattled Ukrainian troops with lightweight “kamikaze” attack drones, but not, at least in an obvious way, conducting an aggressive cyberwar to […]
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