terror

Shahed drones are spreading terror in the Gulf. Ukraine has offered the solution, and the price to pay has a name

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In the last four years, a flying device barely twelve feet long has gone from being a little-known Iranian military experiment to becoming a one of the protagonists of several simultaneous conflicts. Its design is so simple that it can be assembled in a few hours and its cost is thousands of times lower than the systems that try to take it down. That combination has changed the way many militaries understand air defense. The buzz that changed war. Since 2022, the sound of a small motorcycle-like engine was the alarm signal which preceded many explosions in Ukrainian cities. That metallic and persistent noise belongs al Shahed-136a cheap, relatively simple Iranian kamikaze drone designed to attack pre-programmed targets at long range. With about 3.5 meters in length and the capacity to transport an explosive charge of about 50 kilos, these devices have become one of the symbols of modern warfare because they combine two factors that are difficult to counteract: their low cost and the possibility of mass producing them. The jump between conflicts. After four years of war in Europe, these drones have reappeared in force in another scenario. Iran has launched hundreds of devices against Gulf countriesreaching military bases, airports, refineries and urban areas in Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait or Qatar. The attacks seek less physical destruction than psychological and economic pressureforcing the attacked countries to activate expensive defense systems to intercept weapons that can cost only about $50,000. Although many of the aircraft are shot down, even a small percentage that manages to penetrate the defenses is enough to cause damage to critical infrastructure or generate fear among the population. A strategy perfected by Ukraine. The pattern of these attacks is clearly reminiscent of the tactics Russia has employed since 2022 against cities and infrastructure Ukrainian energy companies. Moscow turned the Shahed into the center of a strategy of attrition and terror based on launching large drone waves together with missiles to saturate air defenses and increase the probability that some projectiles reach their target. The mass production has been key in that strategy: Russia not only imported thousands of Iranian drones, but also raised an own factory to manufacture them on a large scale, which allowed hundreds of devices to be launched in a single night against power plants, ports or residential neighborhoods. The anti-drone laboratory created in kyiv. This constant pressure forced Ukraine to become one of the countries more experienced of the world in the fight against these types of threats. After facing tens of thousands of Shahed, kyiv has developed a defense system in layers that combines radarselectronic warfare equipment, anti-aircraft missiles, mobile units and even interceptor drones capable of shooting down attackers in mid-flight. The result is an improvised network but extremely effective which has allowed most of the attacks to be neutralized despite the massive scale of the waves launched by Russia. Terror reaches the Gulf. That knowledge has now acquired a new strategic value. The Gulf countries, which were not used to facing constant drone attacks, have discovered how difficult it is to protect entire cities against weapons that fly low, are difficult to detect and can appear from multiple directions. Even advanced systems designed to intercept ballistic missiles can be overwhelmed by swarms of cheap drones. The recent attacks They have hit airports, refineries, ports and military bases, demonstrating that even critical infrastructures of highly protected economies can be exposed to this new form of air warfare. Zelensky’s offer. In this context, Ukraine has launched an unexpected proposal: share your experience to help Gulf countries neutralize the Shahed. President Volodymyr Zelensky has offered to send his best anti-drone defense specialists along with a group of experienced operators to reinforce regional defenses, but, of course, with one clear condition, a name. kyiv wants Middle Eastern governments to jointly use all his influence on Moscow to pressure Vladimir Putin and achieve at least a temporary ceasefire in Ukraine. If you like, it is an offer that mixes military cooperation and diplomatic calculation: one where Ukraine presents itself as the country that knows the enemy best, and there is not much doubt about that, asking in return help to stop the war which made him precisely that expert. Image | Kyiv City State Administration,X, National Police of Ukraine In Xataka | The US has launched its most ambitious weapon against Iran in the last decade: a missile that does not need fighters or warships In Xataka | It is not that Iran is resisting US attacks, it is that it has room to take the conflict to an explosive scenario.

The terror of wars was always stepping on a mine. In Ukraine they carry scissors, because the panic is thinner: a spider web

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In May we count that an unexpected weapon had begun to be added among the Ukrainian troops: scissors. Given the brutality of the conflict, a technology had sneaked in to evade electronic warfare and enter the enemy camp on both sides as he had not done before: destroying the lines, making attacks invisible and evading any attempt at interference. Now, the tangle of cables has intensified. A deadly web. In 2025, the Ukrainian front is no longer understood without a sky and ground crossed by thousands of drones and by kilometers of optical cable that transform the land into a physical and tactical tangle. What started as a technological revolution to compensate for human shortcomings has evolved into an industrialized war in which each innovation immediately generates a counter-innovation, and where Ukraine, which for years led the initiative, now faces a scenario in which Russia obtains a sustained advantage. Fiber optic drones (invulnerable to electronic shielding) have colonized trenches, roads and wooded areas, leaving visible and invisible networks that slow down every movement and that, in the middle of the night, they get confused with real traps. Narratives from units like the Ukrainian Rangers show a landscape in which advancing is as dangerous as retreating: cables hanging from trees, entrenched in mud, or accidentally attached to weapons and vehicles after each mission. There is no “safe zone.” The great transformation is not in territorial advances, but in the Russian ability to hit supply lines tens of km from the front. What yesterday was a rearguard today is a vulnerable gray zoneand what once required manned aviation is now accomplished by swarms of small, remotely guided vehicles. The explosions that convoys have reached on theoretically protected roads confirm that Moscow has given absolute priority to the war of attrition: attacking where it hurts most, preventing rotations, exhausting Ukrainian drone pilots and forcing brigades to walk dozens of kilometers on foot to avoid detection. This logistical pressure not only undermines military resistance, but also alters the political balance: a country that loses strategic depth also loses negotiating capacity. The Rubikon unit. It we have counted before. The appearance of Rubikon, the elite unit that reorganized Russian doctrine after the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk, marks a before and after. Recruiting the best pilots, integrating optical drones, FPV and “mother” platforms like the Molniya, they exported a lethal model to the Donbas: attack supply before infantry, eliminate enemy pilots before riflemen, destroy capabilities before positions. Its success lies less in technology than on the scale: Russia produces more, deploys more and lets China nurture its fiber optic industry without limits. In Pokrovsk (the crudest laboratory of this mutation) Ukrainian soldiers calculate that Russian drones surpass them in a ratio of 10 to 1. The city, turned into a puzzle of ruins where the front line changes every few hours, exemplifies how tactical air dominance has become the decisive factor in controlling the terrain. The Ukrainian crisis. Ukraine continues to cause severe damage in the final strip before the front, where traditional FPVs remain lethal. But the rest of the board has leaned against her: a shortage of optical cables, pilots forced to launch from ever greater distances, disrupted logistics chains and a military industry struggling to produce what Russia receives on an industrial scale. Some controls they insist in which the strategic error is to prioritize the destruction of Russian infantry instead of replicating the Rubikon model: hunt down the operators, saturate the logistics nodes and act in depth. However, any solution requires resources that Ukraine does not have and that its allies provide too slowly. Chinese fiber optics, the officers point outis tipping the balance with more weight than many Western diplomatic decisions. Between swarms and cables. The conclusion is disturbing: war no longer depends so much on territorial advances as on who controls the drone ecosystem, who has more operational pilotswho can saturate the most kilometers of enemy rear and who turns rival logistics into a prohibited zone. The front, turned into a spider web physically by wires and digitally webed by unmanned swarms, is being redefined at a speed that Ukraine struggles to match. If kyiv does not regain the technological initiative and achieve a steady supply of optical capabilities and long-range platforms, 2026 could be the first year in which Russia’s structural advantage in drones not only complicates Ukrainian offensives, but seriously limits its ability to sustain current defenses. Image | reddit In Xataka | Russia had managed to manufacture drones and missiles despite the sanctions. So selling Zara clothes was a matter of time In Xataka | The round of peace meetings in Ukraine has ended. Russia says it is “ready”, but for war with Europe

The Star Destroyer is the terror of Star Wars. But as one fan has calculated, building it in real life wouldn’t be cheap.

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‘Star Wars’ is full of iconic ships. From the Millennium Falcon and its Kessel Corridor in just 12 parsecs to silhouettes identifiable at a glance such as the X-Wing or the TIE Fighter. We associate ‘Star Wars‘ with frenetic combats in space, but we also have iconic mastodons, authentic galactic monsters like the unmistakable Imperial Star Destroyer. Well: now we not only know how much it impresses us, but also how much it would cost us. What is a Star Destroyer. This 1.6 kilometer long, wedge-shaped beauty exhibits measurements and characteristics that make it a mini space station of considerable power. Let’s see: Approximate mass: 40 million metric tons Engines: Three KDY Destroyer-I ion engines and Cygnus Spaceworks Gemnon-4 units Maximum speed in atmosphere: 975 km/h Hyperlight Capability: Yes, with a class 2 impeller Heavy and medium turbolasers located in batteries throughout the ship Ion cannons to disable enemy systems 30 torpedo launchers or missile slots Ability to deploy 72 TIE fighters, as well as AT-AT and AT-ST ground vehicles Estimated total crew: between 37,000 and 60,000 people It functions as a small floating city, with areas for operations, daily life, maintenance and storage So the money what. Although less monumental than the Death Star, Star Destroyers require immense resources to construct. Estimates based on scientific analysis and data from the saga and collected on the website Gamestar They suggest that building, maintaining, and even disposing of when the time comes for a single Star Destroyer could cost a fortune. Used as a basis for comparison the price it costs to build a real aircraft carrier: between 13,000 and 17,000 million dollars each. And that’s just the beginning. We’re not just talking about construction itself. Resources and construction time skyrocket when considering mass production, as the Empire deploys dozens of destroyers to maintain its dominance. In addition, training and supplying personnel generate recurring costs. And maintenance, of course: refueling, repairing war damage, technological updates and replacing parts, which requires the construction of strategic space bases. We are going in parts, breaking down this authentic black hole of pasta. The initial transport. Transporting 40 million tons of construction material to space is logistically complex and expensive. With an extremely optimistic price of 10,000 euros per ton, the initial cost would be around 400 billion euros. In the long term, the cost could be reduced to about 200 euros per kilo, equivalent to about 8 billion euros. If we talk about current technologies (that is, no teleportation or similar), the realistic cost for this volume would be around 40 billion euros. What the material costs. The construction of the Star Destroyer would likely use high-strength, low-alloy steels, the cost of which is estimated at around €90 billion. More advanced systems such as propulsion, weapons and other high-performance components would require more expensive special alloys, adding at least an additional 110 billion euros. Altogether, conservative estimated costs for materials would be around €200 billion in total. To ride. The Star Destroyer is significantly more expensive to manufacture than mere materials, as labor and countless tests can cost five to fifteen times as much. The construction cost is estimated at around 2 billion euros. Furthermore, adding the costs of research, testing, infrastructure and development, especially in new energy and propulsion systems, could conservatively add another 5 billion euros to the total budget. The invoice. In short, these gentlemen will have to go and digest: the total expense to build and maintain the imperial Star Destroyer is estimated at around 15.2 billion euros, assuming transportation costs. Without including development expenses, the cost would be around 14 billion euros. But we can go up: if additional elements such as technical reserves, energy systems, lifetime maintenance and scrapping are considered, the joke can approach 40 billion euros. To put it in perspective, the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier cost around 12 billion euros, so a Star Destroyer would cost almost four thousand times that amount.​ In Xataka | Adam Driver launched a Star Wars movie project about Kylo Ren. Disney rejected it because they didn’t understand it.

that of drones that sow terror in countries outside the conflict

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In the War of Ukraine we had seen drones throwing drones To tear down other drones, drone swarms stopping and prisoners To recruits, even drones acting practically on your own Thanks to the AI. But what we had not seen so far is that a drone lost the course and ended up arriving as far as a country outside the contest to impact. A drone in Estonia. Yes, the war in Ukraine has crossed borders disturbing. In Estonia, about 80 kilometers from the Russian border, a farmer found the Remains of a drone of Ukrainian attack that deviated from its target and exploded in its field without causing injuries or serious damage. According to the internal security of the Baltic Country, everything indicates that the aircraft, which intended Attack Russian facilities In St. Petersburg, he was diverted by the intense Electronic War Operations and the powerful GPS blockade that Moscow uses systematically in the border region. The incident is the first known entry of a Ukrainian drone in the territory of a non -belligerent country since 2022, underlining the Fragility of borders European air before the technological pulse between both sides. A vulnerability and electronic warfare. The director of the Estonian Security Service, Margo Palloson, explained that the device rushed in the middle of the night, diverting from the corridor planned due to the russian countermeasures of Spoofing and Jamming. Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur insisted in which these incidents are not isolated: Ukrainian drones have begun to end in Lithuania and Latvia, and another fell the same day In the Russian part of Lake Peipus, a few kilometers from Estonia. Russia has turned its borders into an invisible wall of electronic interference that affects both military and civil aviation, with potentially catastrophic consequences. The Ukrainian drone was found about 80 km within the Estonian territory Climbing in the Baltic region. The same day of the incident in Estonia, Ukraine attacked With drones, the Novatek Gasist Complex in UST-Luga, the largest producer of liquefied gas in Russia, located just 30 kilometers from Estonia. The Images of the explosions and the subsequent fire showed kyiv’s growing capacity to hit Russian critical infrastructures in the interior of the country. The geographical proximity has turned Estonia and the rest of the Baltic into involuntary witnesses of An climb that raises the exposure of the region to accidents and collateral damage, As is already happening In Poland, Romania, Moldova or Bulgaria with drones fallen in fields or near populations. Drone impact on Estonia Detect low flight drones. Plus: Estonias authorities recognize that the incident reveals the urgent need to strengthen detection capabilities. Attack drones fly very low to avoid radars, which makes them almost invisible. Prime Minister Kristen Michal claimed A layer defense system capable of covering all angles, although experts warn that absolute coverage is impossible. Countries as Poland They have chosen to invest in aerostatos with descending vision radars, a system that would allow not only drones, but also cruise missiles and aircraft that fly at low level. However, maintain permanent alert with aerial media, such as Awacs aircraftis extremely expensive in personnel and resources. The echo in Poland. The fall of the Ukrainian drone coincides with a growing pattern of accidental incursions. Poland denounced A Russian military drone, with a Chinese manufacturing engine, fell into A corn field Near Osiny, southeast of Warsaw. Warsaw also recalled That Russia never recognizes this type of facts, although Moldova has suffered eight similar incidents, Romania three, Lithuania others, Latvia Dos and Bulgaria one. These episodes, added to the constant Russian bombings against Ukraine, have forced NATO fighters take off repeatedly to control the risks in the airspace of the alliance. Effects on civil aviation. The diversion of Ukrainian drone also affected Civil air traffic. A passenger plane from Sharm el Sheikh and bound for St. Petersburg had to Emergency land in Amarin for the temporary closure of the Puckovo airport after drone attack. It is not a isolated: The International Civil Aviation Organization warned that Russian GPS interferences in the Baltic are a serious threat to civil flights in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Finland and Sweden. European countries such as France, Netherlands or Sweden They denounced Last year before the UIT that the Russian stations of Moscow, Kaliningrad and Pavlovka interfered with European satellite systems, even affecting the television signal and supplanting emissions with war propaganda. United Kingdom confirmed That an official flight with the then Minister of Defense Grant Shapps suffered GPS alterations on the Russian enclave of Kalinningrad, on a day in which more than 500 aircraft recorded similar blockages. An increasingly dangerous career. If you want, the backdrop of this incident is the accelerated race between kyiv and Moscow for displaying long -range armament. Ukraine develops new generation drones and missiles Like flamingoa land cruise missile with a scope of 3,000 kilometers and an explosive head of more than one ton, which would make it the most destructive projectile of its arsenal. Russia, meanwhile, progresses In drones and missiles more and more sophisticated and numerous. The objective is to intensify the war of long distance attacks, which multiplies the probability of projectiles to end up impacting outside the combat zone, causing an unwanted climb and a greater risk of involvement for NATO countries. Image | Er, Google Earth In Xataka | Ukraine has just opened the tanks used by Russia. The surprise is capital: West has manufactured them In Xataka | The war in Ukraine is lasting so much that it is affecting unthinkable sectors: construction and housing

Nvidia lost 265,000 million dollars yesterday. Tariffs have caused terror among technology

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Nvidia lost 265,000 million dollars yesterday. It was an especially Aciaga for her, with 8.69% fall in the value of her action, but the day was dyed red throughout the technology industry. The trigger for that setback in the bags was clear: the tariffs. Donald Trump confirms tariffs. After announce tariffs to Canada and Mexicothe US president initially postponed his application, but yesterday announced that they would definitely enter into force as of today. It is a controversial measure that will make imports from Mexico and Canada apply 25%tariffs, which will make these goods more expensive. Immediate drop in bags. Trump’s announcement caused a clear collapse of several technological actions, but Nvidia was undoubtedly one of the most affected, with a fall of 8.69%. Intel lost 4.05%, Broadcom by 6.05%, and supermicro 13%. The red numbers were seen in much of the technological market, with all the great affected, although to a lesser extent than Nvidia. The indices confirm the fall. As They point The Kobeissi Letter analysts, the S&P index already opened down, and Trump’s announcement quickly precipitated the fall: in just six hours the values ​​included in this index had lost more than 100 points, about 1.5 billion dollars jointly. Nvidia’s shares has returned to September 2024 levels. Source: Google Finance. Relationship with Mexico. Although most Nvidia chips are manufactured in Taiwan, some of their most advanced systems and equipment based on these chips are manufactured in other regions that include both the US and Mexico. That means that these products would be affected by these tariffs. Curiously, Trump’s announcement did nothing but reaffirm Mexico’s plans with the Foxconn plant in Jalisco: it will be the most important assembly factory of the GB200 cards with Nvidia Blackwell architecture, and those responsible for They promised which will be finished in a year despite tariffs. TSMC and its project in the US. Trump took advantage of a conference yesterday to confirm The announcement of TSMC, which will invest 100,000 million dollars more – he had yet paid 65,000 million – in manufacturing plants on American soil. Nvidia indicated in CNBC that would manufacture chips in those facilities, which would allow tariffs. In Nvidia they are still optimistic. In spite of everything, Huang Indian A few days ago this second quarter of the year promises to be positive for the company. Everything has already prepared to manufacture their new chips with Blackwell architecture, and have corrected the defects that were detected in the first phases of production. Crypts also collapse. He announcement of strategic cryptor He had promoted the value of cryptocurrencies, but yesterday’s events also remarkably affected this market. Bitcoin lost more than 8%value, Ethereum almost 15%, XRP 17.61%, Solana 19.57%and adapt 18%. These were the five cryptocurrencies mentioned by Trump for that initiative, and the fall was huge in all of them. Image |Hillel Steinberg In Xataka | ‘The Nvidia Way’: This book is the perfect tool to understand how Jensen Huang has taken Nvidia to the top of success

Trump 2.0: Starts his reign of terror and chaos

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The inauguration of Donald J. Trump as the 47th president of the United States was like waiting for a Category 5 hurricane, and I say this knowingly because I have experienced several cyclones. That anxiety and certainty of knowing that the devastation will be immense, especially for immigrants and their citizen and permanent resident family members. But also for the country’s economy, for our moral fiber and for our democracy. Trump wasted no time in activating his reign of terror among immigrants and like a good would-be autocrat, he wants to govern by decree and abuses his powers. For example, he declared a “national emergency” on the border with Mexico to deploy the military to stop the “invasion” of undocumented immigrants despite the sustained reduction in arrests on the strip in recent months. He also began the process to deny birthright citizenship to babies born in the United States to undocumented parents. More than twenty states, cities, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued to prevent the implementation of the order, calling it unconstitutional. Among the immigration executive orders are the reestablishment of the ‘Remain in Mexico’ program that requires asylum seekers to remain in the neighboring country while they wait for their appointment before the immigration courts in the United States. He took other steps to undermine the asylum system: He suspended refugee resettlement for at least four months. And it eliminated the CBP One application that allowed asylum seekers to request their appointments virtually to avoid chaos at the border. The application was instrumental in reducing border crossings under the outgoing administration of Democrat Joe Biden. ‘Stay in Mexico’ worsened the crisis in the strip as thousands of migrants, from individuals to entire families, slept outdoors in inhumane conditions due to the lack of shelters. Many were victims of crimes as they were at the mercy of drug trafficking cartels. Trump will also end the practice of ‘catch and release’, which allows immigrants to be released into the United States while they await their hearings in immigration court. As part of his plan to eliminate birthright citizenship, he places obstacles, such as requiring the relevant agencies not to issue passports or Social Security cards unless one of the minor’s parents is a citizen or permanent resident. Trump knows that he cannot eliminate the 14th Amendment with a stroke of the pen, that it requires a constitutional amendment and that his plan will be challenged in court, but he wants to show the MAGA movement that he is “keeping” his campaign promises. He also invoked the Alien Enemies Act, to designate cartels and certain gangs as terrorist organizations. The 1798 law, which has only been applied three times and in times of war, allows the detention, relocation or deportation of nationals of the enemy country of the United States for reasons of national security. Regarding deportations, Trump declared that “all illegal entry will immediately stop, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens to the places from which they came.” As of this writing, there have been no confirmed raids under Trump. But it rescinded a memo prohibiting such operations in “sensitive” places such as churches, schools, courts and shelters. Trump eliminated humanitarian parole for migrants from Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Haiti. The executive orders reflect the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, which provided Trump and his team with a roadmap for a highly extremist agenda, not only on immigration but in energy, education, labor rights, civil rights, and other areas. . What is fearful is not only that Republicans control the executive and legislative branches, and have the balance tilted in their favor in the judicial branch. They also had the first Trump administration as a rehearsal and this time these measures are written to try to survive appeals in court. Immigration extremism is the tip of the iceberg in this government since an outgoing president, Biden, issued preventive pardons to his relatives and public officials out of fear that they could be persecuted and accused of “something” because Trump considers them his political enemies. Ironically, while Trump calls immigrants “criminals,” he pardons 1,500 of those convicted or prosecuted for the violent attack on the federal Capitol on January 6, 2021. Like a major Category 5 hurricane, Trump and his extremist policies promise severe damage that will test our resilience, our humanity, our Constitution, and the neutrality of our judicial system.

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