#russian drones

A Russian drone crashed on Polish territory. And it wasn't just slightly over the border but 100 km deep into Poland.

"Once again, we are dealing with a provocation by the Russian Federation, with a Russian drone," Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said. "We are dealing in a crucial moment, when discussions about peace (in Ukraine) are underway." Local police found burned metal and plastic in a corn field outside the village of Osiny, in the east of the country. No casualties were reported. Polish media published photos of what appeared to be remains of the drone, including a charred engine and a propeller. The explosion left a crater 6 meters (20 feet) wide. The Polish Foreign Ministry said initial findings indicated the drone was a Russian-made version of the Shahed drone — an Iranian design that is commonly used to attack Ukraine.

This is not the first time such a thing has happened. In 2023 remnants of a Russian Kh-55 cruise missile were found about 15 km from the major city of Bydgoszcz near the village of Zamość (not to be confused with the eastern city of Zamość). Carelessness is no excuse for Russia. It is fighting an unprovoked war of aggression.

Poland finds Russian missile in forest 500km from Ukrainian border: report

Britain has been developing a laser air defense system called DragonFire. Originally it hadn't been scheduled for deployment until 2027 but the war in Ukraine may offer the UK an opportunity to test its capabilities by seeing how well DragonFire takes out Russian drones fired at Ukraine.

The DragonFire weapon, which is expected to be in service by 2027 at the latest, can hit a target the size of a £1 coin from a kilometre away. Reforms aimed at speeding up procurement mean that DragonFire will now be operational five years earlier than planned. Defence Secretary Grant Shapps travelled down to the Porton Down military research base in Salisbury in an attempt to speed development up even further "in order for Ukrainians perhaps to get their hands on it". "I've come down to speed up the production of the DragonFire laser system because I think given that there's two big conflicts on, one sea-based, one in Europe, this could have huge ramifications to have a weapon capable particularly of taking down drones," Mr Shapps told journalists. "And so what I want to do is speed up what would usually be a very lengthy development procurement process, possibly up to ten years, based on my conversations this morning, to a much shorter timeframe to get it deployed, potentially on ships, incoming drones, and potentially on land. "Again, incoming drones, but it doesn't take much imagination see how that could be helpful in Ukraine for example." Laser-directed energy weapons can strike at the speed of light, using an intense light beam to cut through their target. They are a lower-cost alternative to using missiles to strike down drones, costing only about £10 per shot.

You can't argue with cheap, fast, and accurate. Ukrainians are quick learners, highly motivated, and amazing innovators. DragonFire and Ukraine would be a great match.

The new procurement model, which comes into effect this week, is aimed at speeding up the process of getting cutting-edge developments in military capability like DragonFire out on to the field. "It's designed to not wait until we have this at 99.9% perfection before it goes into the field, but get it to sort of 70% and then get it out there and then... develop it from there," Mr Shapps said. Asked whether the system might be ready earlier than 2027, he said: "Because I'm here, I've taken the opportunity to arrange additional conversations with colleagues about whether we could speed it up even faster, very much using the integrated procurement model of saying there's a war on - let's say that it didn't have to be 100% perfect in order for Ukrainians perhaps to get their hands on it, can we do any better - but 2027 is still the date as of this moment. "But of course I'll look to see what we can do to speed up."

Ukraine may be the equivalent of a beta tester for DragonFire. Experience in Ukraine would be used for improvements to the weapons system.

So far, laser defense systems are being developed particularly in connection with naval uses. Here's a vid from late 2021 which outlines the potential uses for and challenges to use of such systems.