eCrow Newsletter

What Are ‘Dragon Drones’ � Ukraine’s Latest Weapon Against Russia?

October 2, 2024 -- Industry News

Ukraine is adding little-known incendiary weapons to its armoury in its battle to fend off the ongoing Russian invasion, including “fire-spitting” drones reminiscent of dragons. On Wednesday, Ukraine’s Defence Ministry posted videos on the social media platform X showing a Ukrainian drone raining down what appeared to be fire – but was molten metal – on forested positions presumed to be hiding Russian units. (Al Jazeera)

AI is Reshaping Drone Warfare in Russia and Ukraine

October 2, 2024 -- Industry News

Both Russians and Ukrainians are racing to develop new drone technology, each working at warp speed to keep up with the other and render its equipment obsolete. The fixed-wing reconnaissance drones that gave Kyiv a major advantage in the first months of war are no longer useful thanks to Russian countermeasures. (NY Post)

Meet the New Boss of the 350th Spectrum Warfare Wing

October 2, 2024 -- Industry News

In this October cover story complementary online exclusive, JED writer John Haystead introduces Col. Larry Fenner Jr., the 350th Spectrum Warfare Wing’s third commander. (JED)

Russia Reports More Gains in East Ukraine

September 25, 2024 -- Industry News

Russia said on Wednesday it had captured two more villages in Ukraine and was attacking in the town of Vuhledar, a longtime Ukrainian stronghold. (Reuters)

Israel Intercepts Hezbollah Ballistic Missile Near Tel Aviv

September 25, 2024 -- Industry News

Israel intercepted a missile fired by Hezbollah near Tel Aviv on Wednesday, an unprecedented attack by the militant group that reached deep into the country’s commercial heartlands and marked a new escalatory step in the conflict between the two sides. (CNN)

RCCTO Reviews E-HEL Candidates for C-UAS Mission

September 25, 2024 -- Industry News

The US Army is reviewing industry white papers outlining High Energy Laser weapon system solutions capable of meeting the service’s fast-track counter-unmanned aerial system Battalion force protection requirement. (JED)

Emphasis On EW a Must, Air Force Secretary Says

September 18, 2024 -- Industry News

While details on the findings of the Air Force’s yearlong deep dive into electronic warfare capabilities are largely classified, Secretary Frank Kendall said Monday the findings will shape near-term budget and architecture decisions. (Defense News)

Hezbollah Hit By Wave of Exploding Pagers that Killed at Least 9 and Injured Thousands

September 18, 2024 -- Industry News

Pagers used by hundreds of members of the militant group Hezbollah exploded near-simultaneously Tuesday in Lebanon and Syria, killing at least nine people, including an 8-year-old girl, and wounding several thousand, officials said. Hezbollah and the Lebanese government blamed Israel for what appeared to be a sophisticated remote attack. (AP)

P-8A in Line for SIGINT Upgrade

September 18, 2024 -- Industry News

The US Navy has confirmed plans to configure its Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft with a SIGINT suite using equipment essentially common to that already equipping the Navy’s Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton UAS in its Multi-INT configuration. (JED)

Russia Claims Kursk Counteroffensive Pushing Back Ukraine Forces

September 11, 2024 -- Industry News

A senior military commander says Russian forces have launched a major counteroffensive in Kursk, claiming gains in some territory seized by Ukrainian forces last month. Major General Apti Alaudinov, speaking to Russia’s TASS news agency on Wednesday, said the campaign has successfully pushed Ukrainian troops out of “about 10 settlements” they had captured in the western region. (Al Jazeera)

Israeli Airstrikes on Palestinian Territories Kill Dozens More

September 11, 2024 -- Industry News

Israeli strikes on Palestinian territories have killed more than two-dozen Palestinians on Wednesday, according to local officials. They say an Israeli airstrike killed five Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, and at least 20 people, including 16 women and children, were killed in the Gaza Strip. (AP)

Jordanian Voters Go to Polls Amid Fears of a Wider War

September 11, 2024 -- Industry News

Jordanian voters are going to the polls Tuesday in the kingdom’s first parliamentary elections since a new election law two years ago paved the way for greater participation by political parties in the country’s political system. (NPR)

Netanyahu Blew Up Cease-Fire Deal by Changing Terms

September 4, 2024 -- Industry News

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu changed the terms of a U.S.-backed truce deal that was mostly in place by later adding a "clarifications'' document, an Israeli news outlet reported Tuesday. (USA Today)

Russian Missiles Blast Ukrainian Military Academy, Hospital, Killing More than 50

September 4, 2024 -- Industry News

Two ballistic missiles blasted a military academy and nearby hospital Tuesday in Ukraine, killing more than 50 people and wounding more than 200 others, Ukrainian officials said, in one of the deadliest Russian strikes since the war began. (AP)

'Already Dead': Siberia's Homeless Pushed to Join Russia's War On Ukraine

September 4, 2024 -- Industry News

Some do it for the money; others for the motherland. Still others because they “just don’t have anything else to do.” Whatever their motivation, an unknown number of Siberia’s homeless have signed contracts to fight in Ukraine, just as Moscow, seeking to avoid another politically fraught mobilization, struggles to meet its manpower needs, which have now been boosted by a three-week-long Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s western Kursk region. (Radio Free Europe)

Zelenskiy to Present Plan to Biden to End War With Russia

August 28, 2024 -- Industry News

Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday that the war with Russia would eventually end in dialogue, but that Kyiv had to be in a strong position and that he would present a plan to US President Joe Biden and his two potential successors. (Reuters)

Israelis Unleash Deadly Assault on West Bank

August 28, 2024 -- Industry News

The Israeli military conducted a massive military operation in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, killing at least nine people in a string of fierce gunbattles across Jenin and other major cities as tensions heightened in the war that already has laid to waste most of Gaza. (USA Today)

Drug Dealers to Putin Critics: Behind Pavel Durov’s Rare Telegram Audience

August 28, 2024 -- Industry News

Arrested in France, the Telegram boss has found widespread support that mirrors his app’s popularity across usually opposing groups: Ukrainians and Russians, propagandists and free speech champions. (Al Jazeera)

FY25 NDAA Legislation Addresses UAS Threats

August 21, 2024 -- Industry News

As the House and Senate return to Capitol Hill this month, they will continue working on the FY25 National Defense Authorization Act, which includes several provisions focused on counter-unmanned aerial systems technology, procurement and strategy. (JED)

Ukraine Attacks Moscow in One of Largest Ever Drone Strikes on Russian Capital

August 21, 2024 -- Industry News

Ukraine attacked Moscow on Wednesday with at least 11 drones that were shot down by air defences in what Russian officials called one of the biggest drone strikes on the capital since the war in Ukraine began in February 2022. (Reuters)

Blinken Ends Latest Mideast Visit Without a Cease-Fire, Warning ‘Time Is of the Essence’

August 21, 2024 -- Industry News

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken ended his ninth visit to the Middle East since the war in Gaza began without securing any major breakthrough for a cease-fire deal, warning on Tuesday that “time is of the essence” even as Hamas and Israel signaled that challenges remain. (AP)

First LDEW Trial Completed on British Army Vehicle

August 14, 2024 -- Industry News

The UK Ministry of Defence has disclosed first firing trials of a laser directed energy weapon demonstrator from a British Army combat vehicle. (JED)

Ukraine Claims Control of Hundreds of Square Miles of Russian Territory as Operation Forces Tens of Thousands To Flee

August 14, 2024 -- Industry News

Russian President Vladimir Putin promised to “kick the enemy out” of his country’s territory after it emerged that Ukrainian troops were in control of dozens of Russian villages and large swathes of land a week into Kyiv’s surprise cross-border incursion. (CNN)

Palestinians Describe Dire Conditions in Gaza’s Shrinking ‘Humanitarian Zone’

August 14, 2024 -- Industry News

An area that Israel has designated as a humanitarian zone and has ordered hundreds of thousands of civilians to go to has become an overcrowded “hell,” where food and water are scarce and safety is not guaranteed, according to some of the displaced Palestinians there. (NYT)

Ukraine Launches Rare Cross-Border Ground Assault Into Russia, Kremlin Says

August 7, 2024 -- Industry News

Ukraine has launched a surprise ground assault into Russia with troops and armored vehicles, Russian officials and independent military analysts said on Wednesday, in what could be one of the largest Ukrainian incursions onto Russian soil in more than two years of war. (NYT)

Hamas Has a New Leader � How Will That Affect the War in Gaza and Cease-Fire Efforts?

August 7, 2024 -- Industry News

Yahya Sinwar’s appointment as the top leader of Hamas formalizes a role he assumed in the early hours of Oct. 7, when the surprise attack into Israel that he helped mastermind ushered in the bloodiest chapter of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (AP)

Air Force Research Lab Eyes Space Data Transport Demo in 2026

August 7, 2024 -- Industry News

An Air Force Research Laboratory team convened to help the Space Force test and prototype new spacecraft concepts plans to launch its first experimental satellites as soon as 2026. (C4ISRNet)

Phoenix Air to Deliver Contractor Air EW Services to US Navy

July 31, 2024 -- Industry News

Phoenix Air Group Inc. has secured a $165.7 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to deliver airborne electronic warfare (EW) threat simulation services to the US Navy. (JED)

Ukraine Says It Has Repelled Massive Russian Drone Attack

July 31, 2024 -- Industry News

Ukraine’s air force says it has repelled one of the largest aerial barrages launched by Russia on its territory in months. The air force said on Wednesday that it shot down all the incoming projectiles – 89 drones and one missile – launched by Russia overnight, the attack mainly targeting the central region of Kyiv. (Al Jazeera)

Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh Killed in Iran by an Alleged Israeli Strike

July 31, 2024 -- Industry News

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed by a predawn airstrike in the Iranian capital Wednesday, Iran and the militant group said, blaming Israel for a shock assassination that risks escalating the conflict even as the US and other nations were scrambling to prevent an all-out regional war. Iran’s supreme leader vowed revenge against Israel. (AP)

SNC to Provide RAPCON-X Aircraft to Finnish Border Guard

July 24, 2024 -- Industry News

Sierra Nevada Corporation has been selected to supply two RAPCON-X airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft to meet the needs of the Finnish Border Guard’s MVX program. (JED)

Pentagon Creates Regional Partnerships to Sustain Gear Far from Home

July 24, 2024 -- Industry News

Seeking to move away from its reliance on hauling equipment back stateside for repairs, the Pentagon is working with allies and partners to better sustain capability forward in operational theaters, beginning with the Indo-Pacific region. (Defense News)

New DOD Strategy Calls for Enhancements, Engagements, Exercises in Arctic

July 24, 2024 -- Industry News

The Defense Department today released its 2024 Arctic Strategy. The strategy acknowledges how environmental changes are affecting the Arctic region, details the implications for U.S. security and spells out how the department plans to be ready to meet new challenges there. (DoD)