From Norway to the Black Sea: The Coalition Holding the Line

The Next Phase of the Drone War is Here

Camp Jomsborg in Poland has officially opened: Norway, as lead nation for Operation Legio, is working with the other Nordic and Baltic countries to train and equip Ukrainian personnel. The new base in Lipa, south-eastern Poland, will serve as the hub for this joint effort

The Institute for the Study of War reported earlier today that Putin’s forces do not regularly launch missiles in nightly strike packages against Ukraine and will often go several days without using missiles in those packages.

Instead, Russian forces appear to be stockpiling ballistic and cruise missiles most days, then launching large numbers of missiles in conjunction with a big wave of drones — a combination likely to overwhelm Ukrainian air-defense systems.

It makes a lot of logical sense for Putin to move in this direction. Air defence is, was and will be Ukraine’s — and by extension Europe’s — biggest weakness. By focusing on drones and missiles, Putin’s evil forces can indeed exploit one of the largest vulnerabilities in the western portfolio.

You probably already know the missile-drone fight between Ukraine and Russia is, to date, somewhat one-sided. Putin can launch the bulk of his arsenal at Ukraine, while the West had effectively constrained Ukraine to launching only its own drones until now. That is poised to change, but that change is still a date in the future, not the past.

And let us not underestimate this Russian threat. Putin is already in a position to…