The Future of Drone Tech: Hybrid Drones || June 8, 2026
A new drone has appeared on the scene in the Ukraine War. This hybrid drone blends the precision and control of FPV quadcopters with the range and payload of fixed-wing drones.
Almost every drone style has been battle-tested in Ukraine. We've seen FPV drones wreak havoc on the frontlines and fixed-wing drones strike deeper inside Russian territory. However, these new hybrid drones offer the best of both worlds.
Ukraine is already seeing early success with the hybrds, meaning these drones could be a game-changer when combined with other innovations we've seen. Russia will develop countermeasures eventually, but we'll see if Ukraine can capitalize on the opportunity this summer.
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Comments (25)
I just watched this YouTube vid the other day on a VTOL drone. Fits right in with PZ topic of the day. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kA1ENhxLqTo&pp=ygUKdnRvbCBkcm9uZdIHCQk6CwGHKiGM7w%3D%3D. I'm waiting to see a high altitude dirigeable sporting radar wave absorbing skin with a 100 drone payload. Wouldn't that be interesting.
Mini Ospreys. Necessity is the mother of invention.
Are the Russian still struggling with their comms without starlink?
Has anyone watched the movie “Angel has Fallen” (2019) with Gerald Butler and Morgan Freeman? I remembering watching that movie with the drone attack scene 7 years ago and thinking “that’s kind of far-fetched!!” Wow. We need to get our poop in a group and develop this tech a LOT more.
Has anyone identified the Ukrainian equivalent of Werner Van Braun who is coming up with these ingenious drone innovations? The hits just keep coming
As fun as it is to subsidize Peter's constant vacation videos with my monthly payments sometimes with horrible audio as he hikes the mountains of Nepal, I may have to cancel after the additional pricing tier of "exclusive" videos has been released. Contrast this with more in depth quality of content from Simon Whistler at a fraction of the cost
Why not make a minefield clearing drone?
Everything that's changed in the last 4 years and ,in large part, because some convoy headed to Kyiv didn't bring enough fuel or food.
This presentation would be even better if there were still images of the different types of drones to better visualize the information.
Take your pick: https://www.google.com/search?num=10&newwindow=1&sca_esv=92bb7c0feee8c152&sxsrf=ANbL-n7ulonPCKsYTPut2YNrkCyU0a9Iig:1780936107875&udm=2&fbs=ADc_l-aN0CWEZBOHjofHoaMMDiKpaEWjvZ2Py1XXV8d8KvlI3ppPEReeCOS7s1VbbZz2TLt2sOibMbYx2XAHg-v8xM5VMjbOMePxx0DsGneV4EHbozuvnXwBcd5aQHTKBJ0Qeuf9j1ggZOxbHu9o1X1xwEWGAYLHTKJNG0dSBuJD_vTe-GfgKZ7aionTWwR_atDP6541YCyQpM6AZy64k_961T745gbbXw&q=ukrainian+drones+types&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiLls-AiPiUAxVTnokEHS-sDHsQtKgLegQIFxAB&biw=1945&bih=972&dpr=1.98
I understood that drone have now target recognition ( in case links is disrupted i guessed ) so this is a case of "human out of the loop" , correct ? The debate is then concluded on "autonomous" weapon, right ? ( i understand this is not ai )
Yep. Anyone naive enough to believe that "humans must always be in the loop" has been wrong for over a decade. South Korea has had autonomous machine guns on the DMZ for over 20 years. Most of the Ukrainian drone AI stuff today is aimed at infrastructure, oil tanks, munition trains, and truck convoys, and only in the last two to three kilometers when the signals are blocked. Targeting individual soldiers will be the last step or, for the Russians, picking the biggest apartment block to destroy; God help us all.
In a Big Country Drones hunt for you
Like a lover's voice fires the mountainside.
Thanks for the update on all things worldly. Much appreciated.
You should check on the guy Putine put in charge of their drone effort
Didn't the UN outlaw war?
Did they get the food processor fixed in the chow hall yet?
Or the ice cream machine at the MacDonald's?
You just know someone is working on their mine clearing robots.
Between the simplicity of building some of these drones, and ease of access to 3d printing and cnc machines for in home use; when do you anticipate we will see the first use of drones within the us in the context of domestic terrorism? Guns require line of sight, drones, specifically fpv drones would be really dangerous when used by groups within the us against nearly any kind of target and it feels like nearly impossible to defend against .
the internet did the same thing to the cost of information operations.
It's a numbers game, who can make the most the fastest. Launch 10, 1000, 100000, 1000000 - infinity...
He who has the most and best chips wins? Is that not China at the moment?
Taiwan ?