soldiers

The soldiers’ scissors have mutated into something similar to a laser

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Since World War II, many of the most decisive military innovations were born not in perfect laboratories, but on fronts where soldiers improvised solutions with what they had at hand. He portable radarthe commercial drones adapted or even the use adhesive tape in military equipment they emerged like this. In modern warfare, that mix of improvised inventiveness and advanced technology continues to appear where it is least expected. In Ukraine, in fact, they are real experts on the topic. The war of the scissors. It we count long ago. For months, the Ukrainian battlefield has shown scenes difficult to imagine in a 21st century conflict. Soldiers equipped with drones, sensors and electronic warfare systems walked through trenches with something much simpler in their pockets: some simple scissors. The reason was unexpected, of course. Fiber optic drones (controlled by a cable that uncoils during flight) began to proliferate because they cannot be blocked by electronic interference. To neutralize them, many soldiers they started cutting any cable they found, no matter what side it was from. In some sectors of the front the ground reached to cover itself with filaments bright as cobwebs, forcing units to always carry scissors or knives to break those drones’ connections before they could attack. The strange logic of innovation in kyiv. This improvised resource summarizes one of the most striking characteristics of this war: that extremely sophisticated systems are usually faced with solutions surprisingly simple and austere. Thus, drones worth thousands of dollars have been shot down with shotgunsarmored protected vehicles with metal nets as if we were in the George Miller universeand defensive positions covered with mesh to confuse sensors. Even the drones themselves, which today dominate the battlefield, began as a cheap answer to much more expensive weapons. In this context, cut the control cable with scissors (or, if necessary, with your hands) became a rudimentary but effective way to neutralize one of the latest evolutions of drone warfare. When scissors fall short. However, the same speed of adaptation that led to those improvised methods is now pushing the conflict towards much more advanced technologies. Yes, in recent months they have started to circulate videos and testimonials suggesting that Ukraine could be experimenting with directed energy systems to combat drones. In fact, in a visual piece Widely distributed shows how a fiber optic cable is rendered useless after being hit by an intense light, which has unleashed all kinds of speculation about the use of lasers on the battlefield. There is no official confirmation that these systems are operational, but military analysts they point out that Ukraine could deploy functional laser weapons even before the United States thanks to its ability to test technologies directly in combat. The disconcerting technological leap. If you like, the possibility that wire-controlled drones, the same ones against which soldiers carried scissors in their pockets, will begin to confront laser systems sums up the almost absurd speed with which this war evolves. Western military programs often take years to go from the laboratory to the battlefield. In Ukraine and although it may seem like science fiction, this cycle can be reduced to months due to emergencies. It already happened with drones. The front functions like a gigantic laboratory where each enemy innovation generates an immediate response. What seems like improvisation today can become advanced technology deployed on a large scale the day after tomorrow. The mystery of the “alien scanner”. One of the strangest examples of the apparent Ukrainian advance appeared in another recorded video by a Russian drone in ambush. The footage shows something like a square light sweeping across a road, as if scanning the terrain, before the drone signal suddenly cuts out. Some Forbes analysts They have interpreted it as a laser capable of cutting fiber optic cables. However, a more detailed analysis perhaps suggests something different. It is more plausible that it is a Ukrainian drone equipped with a lighting or scanning system that seeks to detect cables shining on the asphalt. These cables usually reveal the presence of ambushed drones near supply routes. The fear that brought down the drone. The final explanation aims for something less futuristic, but equally revealing. Upon detecting the light sweeping the road, the Russian operator attempted to abruptly take off his drone to escape. The motor demanded too much energy at once and burned out the electronic controller that regulates the speed of the device. In pilot jargon, the operator “burned the ESC.” The drone was disabled without any laser having touched its cable. All in all, the episode shows something certainly important: on a front where the soldiers began cutting cables with scissorsthe mere suspicion that the enemy may use a laser It’s enough to cause panic. And that says a lot about the speed with which the war in Ukraine is jumping from improvisation to technologies that just a few years ago seemed like pure science fiction. Image | Telegram In Xataka | Europe has encountered a problem bigger than Russia: drones cannot be stored for more than eight weeks In Xataka | Europe has opened the drone that crashed at the British base in Cyprus… And it has had a disturbing surprise

We thought that the rearmament of Europe was about recruiting soldiers. In reality what Defense needs are welders

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After the excesses of the Trump Administration in matters of international politics, Europe and, especially Spainhas decided recover your industry of armaments, allocating millions to its rearmament policy. He Rearm Europe Planendowed with 800,000 million euros, has skyrocketed orders to the Spanish defense industry. However, although money is already flowing to manufacturers and orders accumulateproduction chains cannot be accelerated if there are not enough technicians to operate the machinery. The defense sector has been trying to fill vacancies without achieving it, and the problem is getting worse. The hope for this rearmament comes from the hand of the Vocational Training as a quarry for the new talent that the main companies in the sector are already raffling off. A new labor market. The rearmament of Europe is changing the labor market in Spain, and it is doing so faster than many imagined. Defense companies have been looking for technicians for months without finding them, and the problem is not going to be solved only with university engineers. According to the report ‘Metal in Figures’ published by the Spanish Confederation of Metal Business Organizations (Confemetal), the average affiliation to Social Security in the sector reached 828,446 people in January 2026, which represents an interannual increase of 1.2%. The average affiliation during 2025 stood at 826,061 workers, 1.6% more than the previous year. These data outline a rising sector that still does not reflect the impact of the European rearmament plan. European rearmament triggers demand for technicians. According to data of the Spanish Association of Defense, Security, Aeronautics and Space Technology Companies (Tedae), the Spanish defense industry It is made up of about 580 companies and generates around 75,100 direct jobs, with Madrid, Andalusia and the Basque Country concentrating close to 80% of national turnover. All companies in the sector share the same problem: there are not enough technicians to cover their production lines and qualified professionals already have a job in one of them. For those who have put the view of recent graduates of Vocational Training, and in improving the conditions for young people to acquire the training that they will then put into practice in the defense industry. Currently, large companies in the sector they already count with a high percentage of staff coming from FP, exceeding 30% and in some cases even more than half of its workers. ​The profiles most sought after by the sector. The Metal Foundation for Training, made up of Confemetal, CCOO Industria and UGT FICA, participated in the Aula 2026 fair identifying the two FP degrees that concentrate the greatest demand: Senior Technician in Electrotechnical and Automated Systems and Machining Technician. The first deals with the installation, programming and maintenance of electrical and control systems on land, naval and industrial platforms, while the second is key in the manufacturing of precision components for armored vehicles, weapons systems and drones. ​These degrees already train young people every year, but the problem is that there are not enough students choosing them, despite the demand of the sector. Héctor Aguirre, managing coordinator of the Metal Foundation for Training, explained this disconnection: “Young people do not associate certain sectors with the metal industry, such as defense or space, when in reality they are cutting-edge fields where they work with cutting-edge technology.” ​More than 350,000 jobs and competitive working conditions. Beyond the segment dedicated to the defense industry, the problem of the shortage of qualified labor extends to the entire metal industry, which includes automotive, steel, aeronautics and machinery manufacturing. According to Confemetal, companies will need fill more than 350,000 positions of work in the coming years, a figure that turns the technical talent gap into one of Spain’s main industrial challenges for the next decade. The salary conditions of the sector are a solid argument to attract candidates. The average salary of a metal worker exceeds 2,000 euros net per month, with salary review clauses linked to the CPI. In 2025, contract salaries grew by an average of 2.6%, and the sector’s collective agreements also include life insurance, disability coverage and retirement benefits. These are conditions that young people do not yet associate with making a component for a submarinean armored vehicle or an anti-aircraft defense system, but they are there, waiting for those who choose that professional career. In Xataka | The talent shortage has become chronic to an extreme point: 75% of companies cannot find what they are looking for Image | Flickr (copsadmirer@yahoo.es), Unsplash (Jimmy Nilsson Masth)

They are the feces of their soldiers

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The United States Navy is experiencing a contradiction that very few could anticipate: while maintains a superiority global in tonnage, scope and technology, carries a series of daily maintenance and sustainment problems that erode its image and, in the long run, its real availability. The clearest example is most advanced nuclear aircraft carrier and an enemy that cannot be mute for five years: feces. The great paradox. As we will see, it is not just a matter of ugly photos or internal anecdotes, it is rather the sum of small breakdowns and material degradation that has ended up becoming an operational burden. And the most striking thing is that these failures appear on both veteran ships and cutting-edge platforms. War, but against feces. The most advanced and expensive nuclear aircraft carrier on the planet, the USS Gerald R. Fordhas been encountering for more than five years an adversary that has no flag or missiles: its own sanitation system. The V.C.H.T.a vacuum system to collect, store and transfer waste, has repeatedly jammed and caused breakdowns since the ship entered service, to the point that during its deployment in 2023 the problems They became almost daily. The irony is brutal: a colossus conceived to project power for weeks without touching port is conditioned by an internal circuit that collapses due to something as basic as evacuating human waste. A lesson not learned. The most serious thing is that Ford’s problem is not new, but rather the second chapter of an error that had already given very clear signs. The last Nimitz, the USS George H.W. Bushwas the first large ship of the US Navy to incorporate a vacuum system of this type, and in 2011 it had all 423 toilet bowls out of service simultaneously on two occasions. That degraded life on board to absurd levels, with sailors urinating in showers or sinks industrial, using bottles and, in the case of many women, enduring so much that they ended up with health problems. The pattern was already written, and yet it was repeated on the ship called to be the symbol of modernization naval. Limited resistance. The VCHT is similar to systems used on cruise ships due to its efficiency in water, but on an aircraft carrier complexity becomes its worst enemy. The network moves waste by suction through hundreds of km of pipes to treatment tanks, and the design has a structural fragility: If one section loses pressure due to a blockage, all bathrooms can be unusable. This is not a minor failure, because it causes a habitability crisis and forces staff time to be spent on continuous repairs, just the opposite of what the ship promised. In an environment where the ship is literally a floating city, sanitation is not a detail, It is critical infrastructure. Toilets on the USS Ford The price of “throwing”. The partial solution that has been identified is as revealing as it is depressing: acid washed periodically to clean the system, something not planned as a routine throughout the life of the vessel. Each operation can cost more than $400,000and it also cannot be done on the high seas because it requires maintenance facilities and adds technical and environmental complications, which chains the problem to shipyard windows. The result: not only are pipes clogged, the ideal of total logistical autonomy that justifies a nuclear superaircraft carrier is also clogged. And in the midst of an era of budget pressure, this turns a key piece of naval power into a platform that requires very expensive “rituals” to function as something as basic as a bathroom. Bathrooms on the USS Enterprise Human factor and design. The Navy has attributed part of the problem to throw inappropriate objectsfrom clothing to utensils to hygiene products, which sounds plausible on a ship with thousands of people living in stressful conditions. But the truly revealing fact is that a GAO report pointed out that the system was undersized for a ship with more than 4,000 crew members, which shifts the blame from individual behavior to industrial design. If an infrastructure does not tolerate realistic use of its population objective, it does not point to a failure of discipline, but to a failure applied engineering. At that point, the aircraft carrier stops being a “technological miracle” and becomes an overly optimistic experiment. Gerald R. Ford during construction in Newport News, along with his construction crew, 2013 Even the bathroom is political. In the Ford, in addition, a concept was introduced that in theory increased the flexibility of accommodation: bathrooms neutral without urinals. That triggered other frictions, because each toilet occupies more space than a urinal and the majority of the crew is still male, which multiplies uses and stress on the system during peak hours. Here, more than a cultural debate, everything points to a debate of physical efficiency within a hull where every meter counts, and where the habitability design has a direct impact on the load on the pipes. In the end, what seemed like a “modern” improvement may have added complexity and stress to an infrastructure that I was already going to the limit. Rust on American warship Rust on deck. If the Ford case is embarrassing, the rust on ships surface is grotesque because it is public, because it is the first thing anyone sees when a destroyer enters port. The Navy recognize that for years has “ignored” the corrosion problem because there was always another emergency. The trigger to prioritize it: Trump got it an image of the USS Dewey with “rust dripping” and that made it a top-notch affair. The technical manager summed it up with a devastating phrase: “We know what to do, but we choose not to do it.” Simple solutions. They were on TWZ The ironic part is that many anti-rust measures sound almost insultingly simple, like using better resistant paintsimprove drains to divert water, or incorporate materials less prone to corrode. It also seeks to reduce the workload and the margin … Read more

an invisible weapon that blinded his soldiers without firing a single bullet

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The number of Venezuelan casualties after the United States incursion in Caracas and the subsequent capture of Nicolás Maduro varies with the passing of the days and the sources, but it seems clear that it amounts to at least double digits (we speak of up to 100). In any case, another piece of information has now been revealed that amplifies the mission. In reality, Washington’s key weapon did not fire a single bullet. The attack that was not heard. Yes, the American operation in Caracas was not defined by explosions or columns of smoke, but by the sudden silence of radars, radios and command centers, a demonstration of force in which more than 150 aircraft acted in a coordinated manner to enter, hit and leave with hardly any visible resistance. In fact and how explains the Wall Street Journalthe key was not to destroy the enemy, but to leave him blind and disoriented from the first minute, unable to understand what was happening or to react coherently while special forces captured Maduro in the heart of Venezuelan power. The invisible weapon. At the center of that blackout was the EA-18G Growler, an aircraft that does not attack people or physical positions, but rather the opponent’s nervous systemspecialized in locating, jamming and neutralizing radars and communications until turning an apparently solid defensive framework into a collection of mute sensors and useless screens. While stealth fighters and bombers performed deterrence and targeted attack functions, the Growler ensured that the Venezuelan defenses they will never get to see them clearly, demonstrating to what extent electronic warfare has ceased to be a complement and has become the precondition of any modern high-intensity operation. Blind before hitting. The logic applied in Caracas reflects a lesson learned and refined in Ukraine– It is not necessary to physically destroy all enemy systems if you can overwhelm, confuse or fool them until void your operating profit. The Growler can simulate multiple targets on the radar, flood the electromagnetic spectrum with noise, interfere with command links and, if necessary, guide anti-radiation missiles against active emitters, creating temporary windows of absolute superiority that allow helicopters and ground forces to operate with minimal risk even in theoretically defended environments. The Russian defenses that did not fire. They recalled in Insider that the most striking result was that none of the Russian-made air defenses in Venezuela’s possession managed to shoot down a single plane American during the operation, despite the fact that the country had on paper respectable systems such as S-300VM, Buk-M2, Pantsir-S1 and radars of Russian and Chinese origin. The image of airspace simply collapsing under a well-planned operation It has been devastating from a symbolic point of view, because it shows that having advanced systems does not guarantee their effectiveness if they are overcome by a combination of surprise, electronic warfare, stealth and multi-domain coordination. 9A83ME launcher of the S-300VM Antey-2500 missile system Not everything is the system. The Venezuelan failure cannot be explained solely by the technical limitations of the Russian systems, but also due to structural factors such as the state of maintenance, the real integration of the defense network, the quality of command and control and, above all, the training and experience of the operators. An anti-aircraft system is only as effective as the doctrine that supports it and the people who operate it, and in Caracas it became clear that, in the face of a well-trained Western force, even feared equipment can be defeated. reduced to passive spectators if they do not function as part of a coherent whole. Repeating pattern. What happened in Venezuela is not an isolated case, but rather fits with a pattern observed in other scenarios like syria or attacks Israelis against Iranwhere air defenses of Russian origin have shown irregular performance against forces that master electronic warfare and stealth. Although in Ukraine, operated directly by Russia, these defenses have worked betterhave also not achieved the invulnerability that their reputation promised, which reinforces the idea that their effectiveness decreases considerably when faced with adversaries capable of combining interference, cyberattacks, deception and precision attacks. Without triumphalism. There is no doubt, for the United States, about the Caracas operation strengthens confidence in its ability to penetrate airspace defended by Russian systems, but it also emphasizes that this success depends on exhaustive planning and intensive use of invisible capabilities that are not improvised. The lesson is not so much that Russian defenses are useless, but that in the face of an adversary that dominates the electromagnetic spectrumEven feared systems can be neutralized long enough for a decisive operation to take place. The war that is not seen. If you also want, the assault on Caracas leaves an uncomfortable and increasingly obvious conclusion: modern war is decided before the first shotin an intangible space made of signals, links and frequencies, where whoever controls the information controls the result. He Growler He did not fire a single bullet, but its effect It was more devastating than that of many bombs, remembering that in current conflicts lose seeing and hearing is almost always equivalent to losing the war before it begins. Image | COMSEVENTHFLTSenior Airman John Linzmeier, Vitaly V. Kuzmin In Xataka | The war in Ukraine has just met that of Venezuela: that means that its two invaders are facing each other In Xataka | While the whole world looks at oil, Venezuela’s true treasure is hidden in the basements of London: its gold

The soldiers of the Roman Empire crushed Hannibal and Viriatus, but they were unable to defeat a fearsome enemy: diarrhea.

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If there is a civilization to which the Spanish collective imagination dedicates festivities and various events, that is the Roman empire. Nevertheless, they were more than six centuries in the Iberian Peninsula thanks to its magnificent expansion work. In its heyday, Rome It covered three continents: from Great Britain to the Carpathians in Europe, North Africa and Asia Minor. To carry out such an extension, his legions had great conflicts in the form of the Punic Wars, the battle of Cannae or the Battle of Pydna. The tough battle for intestinal well-being. As if life on the front was not hard enough, the soldiers guarding the northwest border of the Roman Empire had to confront a tough guerrilla war that is not epic enough to appear in the history books but that also caused casualties: that of intestinal parasites. More specifically, in the north of England, near Hadrian’s Wall. Because a team of researchers from the University of Oxford and Cambridge has discovered After analyzing the sewage system of the Roman fort of Vindolanda three types of intestinal parasites: intestinal worms, whipworm and giardia duodenalis. In fact, it is the first time that the giardia in Roman Britain. The three intestinal parasites, under the microscope. Intestinal worms, the whipworm or whipworm and the protozoan known as giardia lamblia, intestinalis either duodenalis They are three parasites of the digestive system that are spread by poor hygiene or by contact between infected human feces with food, drinks and hands. The intestinal worms They are a helminth that measures between 20 and 30 centimeters in length and lives in the intestine. The most common among humans are pinworms and ascariasis. Its presence in the intestine can cause abdominal pain, fever and diarrhea. The whipworms They are nematodes that are about five centimeters long. An adult whipworm can consume 0.0005 ml of blood per day, so a high presence of this parasite can translate into severe anemia. Likewise, they can cause rectal prolapse, appendicitis and diarrhea if accompanied by a bacterial invasion. A whipworm infection is more common in children and in warm, humid locations, as well as in places with poor sanitary and/or hygiene conditions. The giardia intestinal parasites is a type of microscopic parasite that still causes serious outbreaks of diarrhea today. Symptoms of a giardia infection are abdominal cramps, bloating, upset stomach, and loose stools. According to the Mayo Clinicgiardiasis is one of the most common causes of waterborne illnesses in the United States. The least they had was malnutrition and diarrhea. The three types of parasites, which today are easily diagnosed and treatable for a complete recovery, were not so so in ancient Rome. As explains Study co-author and University of Cambridge archaeologist Marissa Ledger: “Although the Romans were aware of intestinal worms, their doctors could do little to eliminate these infections or help those suffering from diarrhea, so symptoms could persist and worsen. These chronic infections likely weakened soldiers and reduced their ability to serve.” Vindolanda Fort is a true gem for history and archeology professionals. Located between present-day Carlisle and Corbridge, in Northumberland, it was built at the beginning of the 2nd century AD to protect the province from attacks by northern tribes and monitor the imposing Hadrian’s wallwhich extends from the North Sea to the Irish Sea, with forts and towers distributed along its length. In the fort there were infantry, archer and cavalry units from all over the Empire. Beyond the magnificence of the construction, the most interesting thing is the juice that Vindolanda has offered to history lovers because thanks to its water-saturated soil a large number of organic objects have been preserved: thousand wooden slats that served as a kind of logbook, more than 5,000 leather sandals and also fecal remains. Sediments from a 3rd century drain from a latrine in the thermal complex have been the source of this research. The wall watchers They defecated alive. From 50 sediment samples taken along the conduit, about nine meters long, they found everything from Roman beads to ceramics to animal bones. And under the microscope, a whole intestinal fauna. Approximately 28% of the samples had worm or whipworm eggs, and one of them had both. Using the biomolecular technique ELISA they detected the giardia. Likewise, they analyzed a sample from another fort built in 85 AD and abandoned in 92 AD, where they found worms and whipworms. Thus they deduced that the soldiers suffered from dehydration and became ill with outbreaks of giardia in summer, normally associated with contaminated and rapidly expanding water. It could be worse. The high load of intestinal parasites detected in Vindolanda is not an isolated fact, as they are similar to other Roman military enclaves such as Valkenburg (Netherlands), Carnuntum (Austria) or Bearsden (Scotland). And they even had to give thanks, because in urban sites like London and York the parasite diversity was greater, including tapeworms. It wasn’t as pretty as it looks.. While there may be preconceptions and romanticisations about what it was like to be a Roman soldier, Dr Andrew Birley, chief executive of the Vindolanda Charitable Trust is clear “Excavations at Vindolanda continue to uncover new evidence that helps us understand the incredible difficulties faced by those posted to this northwestern frontier of the Roman Empire almost 2,000 years ago, challenging our preconceptions about what life in a Roman fort and frontier town was really like.” In Xataka | The death of one empire is the birth of another: the graph that reviews the history of civilizations from 4,000 years ago In Xataka | We have been calling Christians ‘thieves’ for decades for taking Christmas from the Romans. But the story wasn’t exactly like that. Cover | Photo of 709am in Unsplash

Drones are disguising themselves as Russian soldiers, and it’s working

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More than three years after the start of the Russian invasion, the war in Ukraine has transformed into a conflict that seems have no end in sight, trapped in a logic slow wear and cumulative in which each meter gained costs weeks of combat and a constant flow of resources. In this scenario, the border between high military technology and elemental ingenuity to survive has been blurring: drones with AI coexist with improvised traps, robots armed with solutions born of scarcity, and the most advanced innovation It is mixed with the raw creativity of those who fight every day to stay alive. Thus, Ukraine has just found something: speakers. Against a higher power. The Ukrainian command assumes that the conflict has become a war of attrition in which Russia part with advantage structural by population, industry and replacement capacity, so the strategy involves maximizing enemy losses while minimizing one’s own. Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, has described recently made this approach clear: Ukraine cannot win by volume, but it can do so by constantly raising the human and material cost that Moscow must pay to advance, and to do so it has turned unmanned systems into the central axis of its way of fighting, both on a tactical and psychological level. Drones that attack the mind. One of the most striking innovations is the use of drones equipped with speakersused not to directly destroy but to deceive and wear down the enemy. These drones reproduce military vehicle sounds that simulate imminent attacks, forcing Russian units to deploy reconnaissance drones and single-use loitering munitions that cannot be recovered, also revealing their positions. The exchange is radically asymmetric: Ukraine uses a cheap and reusable system to force the adversary to waste valuable and limited resources. The voice in Russian. The most disturbing variant of this tactic takes psychological warfare to a new level, with drones that emit Russian recordings of screams for help, moans or desperate, shocking calls for help. In essence, the drones are disguising themselves as Russian recruits. In a front saturated with tension, these voices explode basic human reflexes and they push Russian soldiers to leave safe positions to check the source of the sound, at which point they are exposed to artillery or attack drones already prepared. It’s not just about killing more, it’s about inducing errors, eroding trust, and turning compassion into tactical vulnerability. The climate in favor. It we have counted before. The thick fog, the freezing rain and the wind have reduced the effectiveness of Ukrainian FPV drones in key sectors, enabling recent Russian advances, but the response has been integrate aerial drones with ground robots hidden in approach routes. These systems detect the passage of vehicles enemies and transmit precise data to operators who position attack drones at low altitudeusing the fog itself as cover and waiting in ambush until the objective enters the impact zone, a solution that has proven to be effective in stopping armor without exposing infantry. Armed robots so as not to risk. The use of armed unmanned ground vehicles illustrates the extent to which Ukraine seeks to replace soldiers with machines in lethal missions, as demonstrated by the use Droid TW 12.7equipped with a heavy machine gun M2 Browning. counted this week Insider an example. It happened in a night ambush, when this system was able to destroy a transport Russian armored vehicle MT-LBpierce its armor, incapacitate the crew and eliminate the transported infantry, showing that these UGVs are no longer experiments, but combat tools designed to take risks that previously fell on people. Extreme ingenuity where there is no margin. Constant pressure and supply shortages have reinforced a culture of improvisation in which damaged drones are reused like explosive traps, buildings they become in improvised weapons and unexploded Russian ammunition launches again against enemy trenches. This ingenuity not only maximizes resources, but also fits with the general logic of attrition: each recovered object and each improvised trick reduces logistical dependence and maintains offensive capacity even in adverse conditions. Laboratory of the future. In the end, this entire set of tactics relies on a Ukrainian industry that has accelerated the development of drones with better navigation, computer vision, artificial intelligence-assisted control and swarming capabilities, sending them quickly to the front to be tested in real combat. The result is a continuous cycle of adaptation in which technology and doctrine they evolve togetherturning the front into a test bed (it has been for virtually three years) that is not only shaping the course of the current war, but also the way future conflicts will be fought. Image | RawPixel In Xataka | The new episode of terror in Ukraine does not involve missiles or drones: it involves leaving a city without cell phones In Xataka | Shahed drones were a piece of cake for Ukraine’s helicopters. Russia has just transformed them into its biggest nightmare

soldiers who save lives don’t have medals, they unlock the deadliest weapons

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At the beginning of November Ukraine updated the bloodiest game of the nation, that kind of “Amazon of war” where it borrowed the idea of ​​video games and their reward systems, granting points to its soldiers for eliminating enemy troops. Those points later could be exchanged for weapons and systems. Now, in a twist, the greatest reward does not come from an accurate shot, it comes from saving lives. War innovation. The war in Ukraine has entered a phase in which the technologythe incentive systems and management human resources they intertwine. The scenario is no longer defined only by the clash of armies, but by the ability of a country to transform its internal processes, accelerate the arrival of equipment to the front and keep together a military force subjected to extreme wear and tear. In this framework, the appearance of digital platforms capable of rewarding tactical actions, prioritizing the protection of lives and compressing the logistics chain in a matter of days reveals a country that is trying to compensate for numerical inferiority with structural innovation (ethics are more debatable). The morality. At the same time, this development occurs in a military theater where Russian pressure It’s intensewhere entire cities risk being isolated and where the political leadership is forced to decide between holding symbolic positions or preserve your soldiers for more sustainable lines. The convergence of both phenomena defines a war dynamic in which technology not only shapes the offense and defense, but also the moral and strategic considerations that determine each retreat, each advance and each sacrifice. Amazon and its new incentives. We told it at the beginning, the digitization of the war effort Ukrainian has crystallized into a system of rewards and acquisitions capable of altering the way units obtain weapons, electronic systems and tactical material. The platform Brave1 Market It allows any unit, from drone brigades to mechanized infantry battalions, to directly request equipment from manufacturers that previously depended on slow bureaucratic chains, with deadlines incompatible with the urgency of the front. Their catalogues, which cover weapons more expensive and deadly of the nation, have everything from drones to UGVs, electronic warfare systems, cameras, batteries, motors and satellite communications, devices that are constantly renewed as companies and volunteers integrate new technologies. The result is an almost instantaneous shopping environment, financed by the state but guided by the immediate needs of those who fight. The speed of the model, added to the monitoring of points accumulated by units throughout the country, has generated an internal competition that accelerates the incorporation of innovations and creates incentives to execute missions of high tactical impact. Some of the weapons and robots that can be redeemed in Brave1 Unlock save lives. Thus, on a front where medical evacuations have become one of the most lethal tasks due to the proliferation of reconnaissance and attack drones, unmanned ground vehicles have acquired a decisive relevance. These robots are capable of enter beaten areas by artillery or monitored by kamikaze drones, towing wounded from exposed positions, transporting ammunition and carrying out demolition missions against vehicles and fortified points. Expansion of the reward system to privilege the rescue Companionship introduces a change in focus: saving lives takes a central place in the incentive structure, generating not only practical effects on survival, but also psychological effects on troops fighting in an increasingly automated environment. This priority is reinforced with unit testimonials which have already experienced successful rescues, although not exempt from risks derived from the loss of signal or the need to operate in complex terrain. The strategic dilemma. And as innovation advances, the country faces repeated decisions about the fate of its most contested urban positions. Cities like Bakhmut either Avdiivka demonstrated that holding out for months can inflict severe losses on Russian forces, but also that prolonging the defense after losing supply routes leads to unsustainable attrition. With Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad threatened by Russian advances that seek progressive encirclement, the dilemma resurfaces between resisting to delay the enemy push or withdrawing to preserve essential units in a war of attrition. The difference between holding a position and losing an entire contingent of soldiers is measured in corridors increasingly narrowersubjected to continuous bombings and assaults by Russian groups that take advantage of the staff shortage Ukrainian to infiltrate weakened lines. This pattern has already been repeated in several scenarios where late withdrawal has led to captures, massive losses and the rapid fall of deep fortifications. The fragility of the defenses. The recent Russian advance in different sectors shows Moscow’s ability to exploit gaps that have emerged after months of continuous pressure. The reduction of troops Due to the prolonged defense of urban areas, it can result in an unexpected weakening of subsequent lines, which, if they do not receive reinforcements in time, are exposed to deeper ruptures. In areas such as southwest Donetsk and parts of Zaporizhzhia, Russian forces have captured several settlements in a short periodtaking advantage of both the Ukrainian wear and tear like weather conditions that limit the use of surveillance drones. The possibility that units trapped in cities under siege cannot withdraw affects not only the local balance, but also the entire defensive architecture of the eastern front, where the loss of trained personnel outweighs the loss of territory in a long-term war. A war of technological adaptation. If you like, the combination of a digitized incentive systemthe rise of ground robots and the relentless pressure about strategic cities draws a war in which innovation and survival are closely linked. The accelerated adoption of technologies distributed among brigades, the ability to purchase material in hours and the rescue prioritization Through multiplied rewards they form a network war model that attempts to compensate for resource asymmetry with organizational agility. It happens that this modernization develops in parallel to a front where the territorial decisions They involve the possibility of losing hundreds of soldiers in weeks, where the lack of trained personnel limits each counterattack and where withdrawal or prolonged resistance … Read more

a poncho turns its soldiers in Ukraine into an invisible army

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Last October Ukraine I remembered to his troops that Russian soldiers had come up with a new infiltration system. After the helmets with antennathe lures and the optical illusionsMoscow had found a way to appear among the Ukrainian forces “out of nowhere”. Now, in a new unprecedented twist in the conflict, Russia has found the closest thing to an invisibility shield. From the video game to the fight. Something very similar to what we saw in the Metal Gear saga, then called optical camouflagehas appeared in the conflict in Europe. The war on the Russian-Ukrainian front has seen a tactical evolution that has shifted classic protection (armor and vehicles) towards mobility and thermal stealth: Russian assault forces have adopted ponchos or thermal tarps (the so-called “invisibility cloaks”) as an essential element to minimize the infrared signature and allow infiltrations on foot in the wide swath controlled by the drones. There is no perfect thermal concealment, but the difference between being detected or not can decide the life of an assault group. That’s why these clothes, combined with night movements and the use of specific environmental conditions, have become a central tactical tool that, in practice, today protects more than many armored vehicles against the aerial threat of reconnaissance and attack. Tactical evolution. Thermal tarps are blankets made with reflective layers and materials that accelerate heat dissipation, their purpose is approximate the temperature superficial of the human body to that of the environment to reduce contrast that thermal cameras detect. However, its effectiveness depends of multiple factors: quality of the material, contour sealing (bare feet and hands are detectable signs), weather conditions and, above all, the time of day. The so-called as “thermal crossover” (two brief daily periods in which vegetation, soil and air have similar temperatures) reduces global thermal contrast and offers the optimal window to move forward without standing out, while fog, rain or humidity can complement that invisibility. Improperly used, ponchos generate “cold spots” that attract attentionbut used well, multiply the probability of achieving tactical objectives. Limitations and learning. It must be clarified that thermal tarps do not make the attacker invulnerable. Experienced drone operators look for subtle signs (bare feet, movement under the cover, small thermal disturbances) and learn to distinguish behavioral patterns that reveal infiltrations. In addition, there are low quality materials and training errors: there are cases of soldiers who tried to camouflage themselves in broad daylight or with inappropriate ponchos and were detected. The tactic is therefore effective but fragile: it works best en masse, under optimal conditions and when the adversary lacks sufficient alternative sensors or personnel on the line. US Marine Corps uniform with built-in thermal camouflage Countermeasures and tactical recovery. To counteract these infiltrations, the solution it is not unique: involves deploying complementary sensors (acoustic, magnetic, seismic) that do not depend on the thermal spectrum, or reinforcing minefields and physical barriers, densifying human or robotic presence in exposed sectors, or even improving doctrine multisensory surveillance and train detection teams to identify minimal signs of intrusion. In strategic terms, Ukrainian forces agree that the response involves combining technology (more sensors, better integration) with greater territorial occupation, because passive defense based solely in aerial interceptions It is insufficient against equipment that infiltrates at low visibility. Operational implications. The resort to small infiltrated groups reflects broader tensions: troop shortages, accumulated material wear and tear, and an environment where air or drone superiority does not guarantee the security of the rear. For those who attack, the tactics allows you to exploit holes in defense and wear down positions through groups that, although they lose part of their troops, can complete reconnaissance, sabotage or local assault missions. For those who defend it, it forces us to rethink the segmentation of the front and the provision of resources: the balance between expensive sensors and effective personnel, the need for mobile reserves and the growing importance of passive and active containment measures on the ground. Strategic conclusion. If you like, we are facing a tactical transformation where war becomes more granular and less dependent on traditional armor: the multiplication of drones and sensors has revalued thermal invisibility and human mobility, while it has revealed the fragility of conventional defensive schemes. In the short term, the balance favors those who know integrate camouflagemeteorology and discreet logistics. In the medium term, effective defense will require a greater density of heterogeneous sensors, more troops or robotic means on the line and a doctrinal adaptation that combines multisensory detection with physical measures that close the gaps that infiltrators exploit today. In short, in the current field a thermal tarpwell used, can offer an attacker more practical protection than many armored vehicles, and this realization forces us to rethink tactical defense and territory management in a conflict dominated by sensor warfare. Image | UKRAINE MOD, Metal Gear In Xataka | Russia’s latest tactic is the closest thing to a magic trick: By the time Ukraine realizes it, the Russians are already behind it In Xataka | The Ukrainian army has been asked what it urgently needs. The answer was clear: no missiles or drones, just cars

There is literally nowhere to put more soldiers.

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He housing problem It is an endemic disease that reproduces in practically the whole planet. What was more difficult to imagine is how far the tentacles of the crisis. Germany thought several decades ago that wars were a thing of the past. And now you have encountered a problem rearmament announced of his army: literally, he lacks houses to accommodate so many recruits. Rearmament and housing. The German offensive to rebuild a military capacity that it dismantled for decades has come up against an immediate internal cost: there is no space to house the soldiers that Berlin wants to reincorporate. The Heidelberg case is already a symbol. There, a former US base (abandoned after the end of mandatory military service and Washington’s partial withdrawal) was being converted into a new neighborhood. for 10,000 residentsin a country besieged by a structural shortage of housing. The Government’s idea of reactivate that same base shows the shift in priorities from civil urbanism to defense, pushed by two simultaneous actors: an openly Russia revisionist in the East and an American ally politically volatile. Strain. It we have counted before. The rearmament, furthermore, it is not doctrine on paper: Germany wants add 80,000 soldiers In five years, he considers reintroducing some conscription form and has decided to freeze the civilian conversion of bases, reexamine barracks under state control and reactivate military soil wherever it is useful, even at the cost of tension with local governments and voters. A reduced army. For years, Germany delegated its security to NATO and practiced “checkbook diplomacy”. Namely: commerce, rules and checkbook, but without hard muscle. Bloomberg recalled that the abandonment of recruiting in 2011 left behind an inventory of surplus facilities: 31 bases were closed and some land was sold to cities with housing shortages. Plus: the partial American withdrawal multiplied those gaps. This territorial liquidity made it possible to alleviate a strangled real estate market in medium-sized cities. like Heidelbergsandwiched between hills and with limited supply. The war in Ukraine has reversed the equation: Berlin assumes that the external umbrella is no longer enough and that military shortages It is structuralnot circumstantial. The arithmetic of space. Furthermore, and as analysts point outthe collision is physical and political: each re-militarized base is one less neighborhood in a country with skyrocketing rents and exhausted voters. In fact, researchers warn of an inevitable internal conflict because two legitimate goods (credible defense and affordable housing) compete for a non-expandable resource: land. The Government has already suspended the civil conversion of military properties, accelerated military work (+20% in 2024) and plans 270 new barracks for 40,000 troops from 2027. The modernization of military infrastructure exceeds 67,000 million until the 2040s, and the Bundestag processes a fast-track package with flexibility of procedures and exemptions low threshold of 1 million to gain speed. Negotiation window. Heidelberg still hopes to save its macro-project if the Defense considers the base inadequate for military use or if a kind of hybrid (barracks + neighborhood) is agreed upon that makes it possible to make security and urban fabric compatible. The municipal team admits who miss the economic footprint of US bases, but emphasize that civilian urbanization alleviates the housing bottleneck. There is no doubt, the current clash distills the German transition from the era of peaceful dividends towards a defense economy that requires redo what was dismantled: money, people, land and social consensus to rebuild against the clock. Fracture of the social contract. If you want, the impasse The current situation also reveals a temporal crack: Germany urbanized and planned as if geopolitics had been abolished after 1991 (end of the USSR and end of the Cold War), reallocating military land to housing under the premise of an environment without major wars in Europe. That assumption (which also ordered budgets, mentalities and territorial planning for three decades) collapsed the February 24, 2022. Today the country operates with institutions, urban planning laws and citizen expectations designed for a post-war era that no longer exists, while it is seen forced to reinsert in a scenario with infrastructure, densities and land uses inherited from prolonged peace. The clash between barracks and floors is not only physical: it is the clash between two historical calendars that coexist in the same territory, that of civil normality and that of abrupt return. of strategic risk. Image | Markus Rauchenberger In Xataka | The US no longer has to worry about Spain or the rearmament bill in Europe. Germany had a plan B In Xataka | The most pacifist city in Germany lived off its legendary train factory. Now they will make it from a gigantic tank factory

There are 10,000 soldiers and unusual artillery pointing at the same place in the Caribbean

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It all started under the pretext of “drug trafficking”but the amount of accumulated signals, troops and artillery that the United States has been adding around the southern Caribbean, indicate that the operation has slipped towards a coercion mechanism strategic to force accelerated eviction without a formal invasion. A combination of visible deterrence, explicit threats and preparation of windows of surgical action. In the background: Venezuela. Evolution of the objective. It we count last week. The US deployment began wrapped in the classic language of the fight against drug trafficking, attacking boats fast and reactivating bases with a technical pretext. It happens that the accumulation of gestures (B-52 with transponders assets bordering on the Venezuelan FIR, “ghost ships”, SOF helicopters training off the coast, and the trump admission that “he doesn’t want to play”) seem to have another purpose: the message It no longer seems to deny drug routes, but rather something more akin to overthrowing the Venezuelan regime. The public articulation (“Maduro is a fugitive”, “he must go”) and privately aligns military deployment with a logic of collapse rather than containment. Artillery as pressure. The volume of resources and troops from Washington that CNN reported in the last few hours and the New York Times through satellite data (thousands of soldiers next to the ARG Iwo Jimathree destroyers DDG guided missilesa cruisea SSN submarineairplanes AC-130J armed with hellfire, F-35 in Puerto Ricoairplanes P-8, MQ-9, ISR flights massive and reactivation of the Roosevelt Roads base) is disproportionate to simply hunt down drug boats, although insufficient to occupy Caracas. Is, according to analystsexactly the size that allows hitting nodes (command, radars, escorts, inner rings) without “going fully into” a war, and maintaining a credible “low-profile” escalation vector. American voices match in the Financial Times: “it is too much for drug trafficking, but not enough for an invasion”, and what is left in the middle is a luck calibrated pressure. One of the satellite images captured on October 17 showing F-35 fighter jets at the José Aponte de la Torre Airport in Puerto Rico The mystery of Venezuela. For its part, the Venezuelan Armed Force is eroded by maintenance and spare parts, but much less naked: there is S-300anti-aircraft artillery, MANPADS, F-16 and a million militiamen that cast serious doubt on the reputational costs if Washington crosses the kinetic threshold. At the same time, the national commanders they suspect leaks and purge loyalties, the Times said that they sleep rotating locations and change escorts. A pattern that reveals internal vulnerability and expectation of a selective coup, in any case, there does not seem to be confidence in defeating the United States. Colombia and something more. The dialectical escalation with Colombia (Trump has called Petro a “drug leader,” threats of cut funds and tariffsand rhetorical retaliation after a naval attack that killed a fisherman) reconfigures an alliance that until now was key for Washington: the same one that provided the 80% of intelligence in the area. In other words, the clash erodes the regional pillar precisely when the United States approaches the use of force threshold in Venezuela, expanding the diplomatic front and reducing its margins for sustained maneuver. The political window. While, Donald Trump’s administration acts against the clock: this posture sustained under a climate of war does not seem to be able to be maintained indefinitely and any accident can precipitate an unplanned escalation. Plus: Trump does not seem to focus the operation on normative criteria (elections or institutional guarantees) but rather to a result that he can declare as “victory,” which makes the margins of American rhetoric more flexible, but hardens the incentive for a spectacular blow. Military analysts warn that “over braking” could behead without transition and opening a vacuum, while the opposition replies that Venezuelan social cohesion reduces that risk. Thus, the gap between both hypotheses is precisely where the greatest American pressure operates today. Strategic test. In summary, the combination of visible military troopscredible threat of precision hits and a diplomacy that does not stop tightening the rope, define that kind of ultimatum phase but without a formal ultimatum. From that perspective, the outcome aims to depend less on the balance of fire than on the breaking point within the Chavista leadership and whether Washington decides to stop after a possible departure of Maduro, or explicitly pursues the “end of” as a regime. And while that ambiguity persists, the pressure aims to continue… while the Caribbean wonders for how long. Image | USN/MASS COMMUNICATION SPECIALIST 3RD CLASS THEOPLIS STEWART II, ​​Planet Labs PBC In Xataka | A disturbing idea is gaining strength: that what the US wants is not drugs, and that is why it is targeting Venezuela In Xataka | That the US Air Force flies its three B-52 bombers is normal. That he does it against Venezuela not so much

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