How the Pentagon picks what drones to buy in a Chinese-dominated market

Tech Insider : Business
A small quadcopter drone flies in a blue sky with a trail of smoke behind it.
The Blue UAS List has a rigorous process for selecting drones that US military personnel can use.

US Army photo by Staff Sgt. Anthony Herrera

Ukrainian soldiers are forced to heavily rely on drones, even when other weapons might work better

Tech Insider : Business, Politics, Technology
Four figures in camouflage around a large black drone in a field
The drone fight is rapidly evolving, and schools need to stay on top of its developments.

FLORENT VERGNES/AFP via Getty Images

The US Army hasn't faced serious threats from above in years. The war in Ukraine is forcing a rethink.

Tech Insider : Business, Environment
A man in camouflage gear looks through binoculars with a grey sky and almost-bare trees behind him
Ukraine shows the US it may not be guaranteed control of the air in a future war, and soldiers will have to be far more suspicious of what's flying above them.

Spc. Richard Carlisi

US Army drone school leaders say they don't want to buy gear that can't be easily upgraded

Tech Insider : Business, Technology
Three men in camouflage gear sit outdoors wiht one wearing a headset and holding a controller with a small screen in front of them
The US Army's new drone course is designed to make soldiers lethal with small drones.

US Army/2nd Lt. Veronica Jordan

The US Army is taking a key drone lesson from Ukraine and letting soldiers build their own

Tech Insider : Business, Technology
A man works on a small drone on a wooden table.
The Best Drone Warfighter competition included an innovation lane focused on evaluating soldier-made drones.

US Army photo by Sgt. Aaron Troutman

The Army's new drone competition is really a talent hunt. It's scouting out what makes a top drone pilot.

Tech Insider : Business
A soldier sits on the ground wearing a headset and holding a controller. Behind him, various soldiers crouch, sit, and stand. There is a barren tree line in the background.
The US Army held its first annual Best Drone Warfighter competition in Huntsville, Alabama, bringing operators from across the service to compete in two lanes.

US Army photo by Sgt. Aaron Troutman

NATO is deploying a drone carrier to its eastern edge after repeated Russian airspace incursions

Tech Insider : Business
The Turkish Navy amphibious assault ship TCG Anadolu (L400) steams in the Mediterranean Sea, August 21, 2023.
NATO is deploying a Turkish drone carrier to Russia's doorstep.

US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jackson Adkins

These new Ukrainian ground robots can launch unjammable fiber-optic drones close to the front so troops don't have to

Tech Insider : Business, Technology, Travel
A black ground robot on six wheels on snow with a drone flying above it under a grey sky
Ratel Robotics said it had adapted one of its ground robot models to carry and launch fiber-optic drones.

Ratel Robotics

Satellite images show Russia put up anti-drone nets to protect its fuel tanks. A Ukrainian attack punched through.

Tech Insider : Business
A close-up view of anti-drone netting covering tanks at an oil depot in Velikiye Luki, Russia, in December 2025.
Anti-drone netting covering tanks at an oil depot in Velikiye Luki, Russia.

Satellite image ©2026 Vantor

Ukrainian soldiers armed with scissors say they cut any fiber-optic drone cable they see — even if it might be their own

Tech Insider : Business, Technology
A hand holds thin pale wires above a grassy ground
Fiber-optic drones can't be jammed, but can be stopped by destroying the cables that control them.

Jose Colon/Anadolu via Getty Images

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