Drones
Army ditches helicopters for new radical air assault planes
Fox News contributor Brett Velicovich joins'Fox & Friends First' to discuss Secretary's Hegseth's sweeping Army transformation, how Russia has responded to the U.S. minerals deal with Ukraine and the military bolstering drone technology. This is how the Army will island hop in the Pacific to fend off China. And by the way, Chinese President Xi Jinping has nothing like it. With a stunning announcement, the Army did more than ax 40 generals and open the door to AI. The Army bet its future on this radical aircraft, whose engines swivel to take off and land like a helicopter, or fly high and fast like an airplane.
US Marine Corps creates attack drone team as arms race with Russia, China heats up
Fox News contributor and Army veteran Brett Velicovich shares insight into the United States' drone capabilities and how it compares to adversaries like Russia and China. The U.S. Marine Corps established an attack drone team earlier this year to respond to the rapid development of armed first-person view (FPV) drone technology and tactics, offering a glimpse into the evolving landscape of modern warfare and how future battles could be fought. The Marine Corps Attack Drone Team (MCADT) will be based at the Weapons Training Battalion, Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Virginia. The FPV drones used will offer squad-level lethality at a range of up to 20 kilometers, nearly 12.5 miles, for under 5,000, compared to more expensive weapons systems with less capability, according to a press release from the service. "MCADT is committed to rapidly integrating armed first-person view drones into the FMF [Fleet Marine Force], enhancing small-unit lethality and providing organic capabilities that warfighters currently lack," said Maj. Alejandro Tavizon, the headquarters company commander at Weapons Training Battalion and officer in charge of MCADT.
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,171
Russia and Ukraine accused one another of violating a May 8-10 ceasefire that had been unilaterally declared by Russian President Vladimir Putin to coincide with commemorative events marking the 80th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. The Russian Defence Ministry said on Friday that Ukrainian troops had made four attempts to smash through the border into the Kursk and Belgorod regions in the past week. It claimed that Kyiv's troops attacked Russian forces 15 times during the ceasefire. In Belgorod, the local governor said a Ukrainian drone had attacked a government building on Friday. Pro-Russian war bloggers said Ukraine attacked multiple villages in the region, with further "high-intensity fighting" near Tetkino, a village in the Kursk region.
Moscow and Kyiv trade accusations as Russia holds Victory Day spectacle
Russia and Ukraine have accused one another of violating a three-day ceasefire as Moscow marked Victory Day by welcoming allies to a grand military parade. Russia's President Vladimir Putin marked the 80th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany on Friday alongside China's Xi Jinping, in an event clearly intended to bolster support for his three-year offensive against Ukraine, which he had unilaterally paused for 72 hours to mark the occasion. "Russia has been and will remain an indestructible barrier against Nazism, Russophobia and anti-Semitism," said Putin, seeking to draw parallels between World War II – or the Great Patriotic War as it is named in Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union – and the Ukraine war. Russia maintains that its February 2022 invasion of its neighbour is a battle against a "Nazi" regime in Kyiv. Ukraine has dismissed that claim as "incomprehensible".
'Slippery slope': How will Pakistan strike India as tensions soar?
Islamabad, Pakistan – On Wednesday evening, as Pakistan grappled with the aftermath of a wave of missile strikes from India that hit at least six cities, killing 31 people, the country's military spokesperson took to a microphone with a chilling warning. "When Pakistan strikes India, it will come at a time and place of its own choosing," Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said in a media briefing. "The whole world will come to know, and its reverberation will be heard everywhere." Two days later, India and Pakistan have moved even closer to the brink of war. On Thursday, May 8, Pakistan accused India of flooding its airspace with kamikaze drones that were brought down over major cities, including Lahore and Karachi.
Russia's Putin hosts China's Xi at massive Moscow military parade on Red Square
Chinese soldiers are seen marching in Moscow's Red Square on Friday, May 9. (Credit: CCTV) Chinese President Xi Jinping was photographed standing next to Vladimir Putin on Friday as thousands of Russian troops and military vehicles rumbled through Moscow's Red Square during the country's annual Victory Day parade. The event, marking Russia's 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, featured over 11,500 troops and more than 180 military vehicles, including tanks, armored infantry vehicles and artillery used on the battlefield in Ukraine. "We are proud of their courage and determination, their spiritual force that always has brought us victory," Putin said about the Russian troops fighting in the war. Russian flag carrier Aeroflot canceled more than 100 flights to and from Moscow and delayed over 140 others on Wednesday as the military were repelling repeated Ukrainian drone attacks on the capital. Russian President Vladimir Putin, center right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping, center, watch the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia, on Friday, May 9. (Mikhail Korytov/Photo host agency RIA Novosti via AP) Ukrainian authorities also reported scores of Russian strikes on Friday that killed at least two people in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions and damaged buildings.
India and Pakistan: The first drone war between nuclear-armed neighbours
The world's first drone war between nuclear-armed neighbours has erupted in South Asia. On Thursday, India accused Pakistan of launching waves of drones and missiles at three military bases in Indian territory and Indian-administered Kashmir - an allegation Islamabad swiftly denied. Pakistan claimed it had shot down 25 Indian drones in recent hours. Experts say the tit-for-tat attacks mark a dangerous new phase in the decades-old rivalry, as both sides exchange not just artillery but unmanned weapons across a volatile border. As Washington and other global powers urge restraint, the region is teetering on the edge of escalation, with drones - silent, remote and deniable - opening a new chapter in the India-Pakistan conflict.
India and Pakistan tension mounting amid attacks and accusations
Tensions continue to mount as India and Pakistan traded accusations and attacks across their frontier in Kashmir overnight. New Delhi and Islamabad accused one another on Friday of launching drone attacks as well as "numerous ceasefire violations" over the Line of Control (LoC) in the disputed territory. The ongoing hostilities have provoked further calls for restraint as the risk of an escalation between the two nuclear powers grows. Pakistan launched "multiple attacks" using drones and other munitions along India's western border on Thursday night and early Friday, the Indian army said, claiming it had repelled the attacks and responded forcefully, although it did not provide details. Islamabad has denied any cross-border attacks and instead accused Indian forces of sending drones into Pakistani territory, killing at least two civilians.
Putin hosts Victory Day parade with tight security and a short ceasefire
In the days ahead of the proposed truce, Moscow and Kyiv exchanged a barrage of strikes. Flights at airports across Russia were cancelled and some 60,000 passengers left stranded in the wake of Ukrainian drone attacks. Heavy restrictions are in place in the centre of Moscow as Russia prepares to mark the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany. Russia says 27 world leaders are attending the event, with thousands of troops marching on Red Square ahead of a parade of some of Russia's latest weaponry. Brazil's Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro are among the assembled guests, along with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Robert Fico, Slovakia's prime minister who is the only European Union leader to travel to Moscow. Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky had earlier warned that he could not guarantee the safety of anyone attending the event and has urged heads of state not to travel to Moscow.