WIREDGOV

One-to-many control of drones makes mass truly usable, circumventing the limiting factor of human attention.

Ukraine’s use of uncrewed platforms is challenging a long-standing Western preference for small numbers of exquisite platforms. It is also a reminder that mass still matters. Through a combination of uncrewed surface vessels, deception and persistence, Ukraine has compelled Russia’s Black Sea fleet to disperse, despite lacking a conventional navy. On land, low-cost first-person-view drones have repeatedly disabled tanks and other armoured vehicles at a fraction of their value.

The lesson here is not that classic constraints like terrain, concealment and deception no longer matter. Rather, they are now contested differently. The concept of ‘attritable’ mass – reusable platforms cheap enough to be lost, quickly replaced and rapidly improved – is altering how force can be generated at scale. Exposure is punished faster, but losses can also be replaced faster.

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