Ukraine used ArduPilot to help it wipe out Russian targets. It wasn’t the first time and it won’t be the last.

Ukraine used ArduPilot to help it wipe out Russian targets. It wasn’t the first time and it won’t be the last.

Open source software used by hobbyist drones powered an attack that wiped out a third of Russia’s strategic long range bombers on Sunday afternoon, in one of the most daring and technically coordinated attacks in the war.

In broad daylight on Sunday, explosions rocked air bases in Belaya, Olenya, and Ivanovo in Russia, which are hundreds of miles from Ukraine. The Security Services of Ukraine’s (SBU) Operation Spider Web was a coordinated assault on Russian targets it claimed was more than a year in the making, which was carried out using a nearly 20-year-old piece of open source drone autopilot software called ArduPilot.

ArduPilot’s original creators were in awe of the attack. “That’s ArduPilot, launched from my basement 18 years ago. Crazy,” Chris Anderson said in a comment on LinkedIn below footage of the attack.

  • America@sh.itjust.works
    42·
    1 年前

    The shelves of your nearest hobby store hold the weapons of the future, with only a minimal cost. And that’s terrifying.

      • America@sh.itjust.works
        35·
        1 年前

        No, definitely terrifying. War should be costly and terrible. That’s the only reason it isn’t more common, that its cost is objectionable. Pax economica, while flawed, is more subjective than ever before. And I do not like that.

        • AnneBonny@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
          10·
          1 年前

          War is costly and terrible, and it always will be, regardless of the magnitude of resources required to wage war.

          • America@sh.itjust.works
            2·
            1 年前

            Your semantic argument costs 300 dollars to destroy with a grenade sent through a closed window from a person 500 miles away.

        • TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world
          8·
          1 年前

          War should be costly and terrible

          So that only the most powerful and elite can engage in a monopoly of violence eh? I’m far more concerned about a well funded local police agency thinking they need a bearcat, or a global power thinking they need a bomb that can split the earth in half than a neighbor with a drone and a 3d printer.

          You’ve got it all wrong. The dissolution of the high technology, grand tower approach to war fighting is a good thing.

          • America@sh.itjust.works
            2·
            1 年前

            Governments will use drones. It will cost little. War will be a lighter proposition. That’s what I’m getting at.

        • untakenusername@sh.itjust.works
          3·
          1 年前

          War should be costly and terrible

          and it still is and it will be

          that’s the point, more often that not, to take money and burn it while producing more fuel for propaganda

          not saying that’s whats happening in Ukraine, but this has happened a ton in the past and will continue

    • Saleh@feddit.org
      2·
      1 年前

      Well, there is the whole payload aspect you need to figure out.

      If you have that figured out, the rest is and has always been relatively trivial in comparison.

      The trucks in the videos clearly never went through any check of the cargo. Could have had a simple trebuchet design in there and haul some explosives onto the airfield.

      • jacksilver@lemmy.world
        3·
        1 年前

        Yeah, that’s something I feel like is being taken out of context. It’s the getting the explosives within range of the planes that was impressive to me. They could have had mortars/rockets/etc. and probably done similar damage at that range.

        I’m sure drones increase the success rate, but it wasn’t drones that made that operation a success from my understanding.

      • ansiz@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        1 年前

        The cargo area had a false ceiling didn’t it? Like I saw one that looked like you could open the back of the ‘trailer’ but there was a fake ceiling with the drones above that.

        • Saleh@feddit.org
          2·
          1 年前

          Afaik they had fake ceilings yeah. However noone that would bother to look, would be tricked by fake ceilings. That trick exists since horse carriages. The fake ceilings only give the driver some deniability.

  • Diplomjodler@lemmy.world
    30·
    1 年前

    "That’s ArduPilot, launched from my basement 18 years ago. Crazy,” Chris Anderson said…

    One hell of an achievement to put in your resume.

  • altphoto@lemmy.todayBannedBanned from community
    10·
    1 年前

    We need more. We should all keep the effective strategies quiet and secret. That way they can be used again and again.

  • bean@lemmy.world
    7·
    1 年前

    Can you imagine if they had to license it? lol

    Ohhh sorryyyy. We would LOVE to support your attack which will be unprecedented in modern warfare… if only there wasn’t this tiny little eensy-weensy license ‘issue’. We’ve moved to a subscription for your drone warfare software. Per device. You can save 10% if you subscribe for a year. Early termination fee applies. To cancel you’ll have to call and attempt the phone labyrinth. $19.99/min.

    • ssillyssadass@lemmy.world
      1·
      1 年前

      I’m now imagining a scenario in which the democratic nations of the world are in a war against oligarchs with corporate armies, and the corpos losing due to their hardware having licensing issues. Like the corpos are so addicted to fucking people over they can’t help but fuck their allies over.