To my surprise, questions being vetted for prior interviews ended up landing on the desk of Yurii Shchyhol, director of Ukraine's @SSSCIP security service. Read on for what he wrote to me on everything from FPV to interceptor drones and anti-drone rifles.

Want to make a correction: should say $120 million, not 80 million, as in 30 x 4 million per PAC-3. I believe THAADS are $12 million each, SM-3s are $10 to $28 million variant depending.

Interesting FPV strike video on Ukrainian Leopard 2A6 that likely failed. Why? 2A6 front armor is VERY strong vs shaped-charges unless hit on weak spot. Drone operator likely aimed for spot between turret & hull, but instead hit a *strong* spot: sloped, spaced turret wedge armor.

The work of Defense Undersecretary Elbridge Colby. Fascinating that 30 PAC-3 missiles for Ukraine is too much ($80 million), but expending billions on even rarer THAADS and SM-3 interceptors (as well as PAC-3s) defending Israel from Iran & Houthis is not.

A look into the numbers of the Iran-Israel ballistic missile war: how many missiles and defensive interceptors were launched, how many reached their target, and which side could last longer.

An interesting negative account casting doubt on the efficacy of FPV drones in Ukraine. Argues that mortars are cheaper & superior.

This is pretty staggering--just goes on & on. Lots of the 'tire armor' visible, you can see how it sometimes complicates drone attack run. Not adequately, though. While complete kills unverifiable, many planes (including 1-2 A-50) seem unlikely to be repairable any time soon.

Yes, I know title pic is of a non-strategic Su-24 bomber, don't know why they chose that. Here are the big boys.2/2

As Russia's strategic bombers are in the news, it's worth recalling the Tu-22M, Tu-95 Bear & Tu-160 saw their combat debut nearly a decade ago in Syria with unfortunate results primarily for civilians, detailed in this old article. 1/2

So far I think I've seen drone recordings and satellite photos showing 8 Tu-95s and Tu-22Ms destroyed & 3 more damaged/possibly destroyed, plus an Antonov cargo aircraft. We'll see if satellite imagery or other open sources reveal additional losses.2/2

My take on Ukraine's Operation Spiderweb drone attack on Russia's strategic bomber bases, including thoughts on the question of how the drones were controlled, and the implications for counter-drone security that should be on the Pentagon's mind. 1/2

Russia secretly transferred at least one Pantsir-S vehicle to North Korea. Read on for background and analysis of relevance to South Korea should this herald broader upgrades to Pyongyang's outdated short-range air defenses protecting WMD and C2 sites.

The surreal results of the mass-use of fiber-optic drones.

German chancellor Merz just said Ukraine can now use Western missiles against military targets anywhere in Russia. Read on for why Ukraine may not have many left, and lingering question of whether Berlin is quietly supplying Kyiv with its Taurus missiles.

Should add, air defense success isn't just how strong defense is (ie. comparing HQ-9s & S-400 assets), but strength of opposing offense. And India demonstrated a deeper & better-quality inventory of standoff strike weapons (Harops, SCALP, Brahmos) than Pakistan.

Stealth fighters aren't harder to kill on the ground than regular ones. And the recent conflict seemed to show IAF's ground based-air defenses more robust than PAF's. This will be a vulnerability IAF will seek to press, and PAF will seek to redress looking forward.2/2.

Pakistan is supposedly taking delivery of its first J-35A stealth fighters later this year at 50% discount. Now looks likely first air-to-air combat involving stealth aircraft will occur in India-Pakistan context. But a consideration. 1/2

Should clarify, real-world vehicle optical stealth isn't about 'invisibility' but rather considerably reducing spotting distances. Tested in World War II it involved using lights to blend ships & aircraft with sky. 3/2

Originally, this piece had a bit more on the design of the other worldly Boeing Bird of Prey, a flying manned stealth demonstrator named after a Star Trek spaceship! Interesting trivia: Boeing's Bird likely also incorporated optical stealth tech, like the Klingon original. 2/2

Set silly headline aside, read on to learn about 1) aspects of F-47 design geometry visible in USAF renderings like anhedral wings, canards etc. 2) growing evidence those images are misleading! 3) stuff we can actually be sure will feature in F-47. 1/2