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Drones

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (R) and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky (L) speak next to the first batch of Ukrainian made drone missiles "Peklo" (Hell) delivered to the Defence Forces of Ukraine in Kyiv on December 6, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine’s Long-Range War: How Drone & Missile Strikes Are Taking the Fight Deep Inside Russia

DEEP DIVE – By any traditional definition, the city of Ryazan doesn’t belong on a list of battlegrounds in the Ukraine war. There are no Ukrainian [...] More

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Europe Must Prepare for the Long War

OPINION — Russian drones are forcing airports to close and fighter jets are breaching NATO airspace – clear signals of Moscow’s widening hybrid [...] More

Special Report: Nat Sec EDGE 2025

Special Report: Nat Sec EDGE 2025

The Cipher Brief's Special Report on Nat Sec EDGE 2025The Nat Sec EDGE 2025 conference took place June 5–6, 2025 in Austin, Texas.ForewordThe 2025 [...] More

Rising Lion Shows the U.S. Needs More Allies Like Israel

OPINION — Israel’s Operation Rising Lion will go down as among the most impressive military campaigns in history. Military academies, military [...] More

Drones are Funding Russia's War Against Ukraine

OPINION — The war in Ukraine has evolved into a complex geopolitical conflict, shaped not only by military strategy but by global economic [...] More

Can NATO Still Scare Putin?

Can NATO Still Scare Putin?

EXPERT INTERVIEW – Polish President Karol Nawrocki signed a classified decree over the weekend allowing armed forces of NATO member states to be [...] More

Russia Pays the Price as Ukraine Targets Its Oil Refineries

OPINION — Following Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, Vladimir Putin expected a swift victory from his “special military operation.” Instead, it [...] More

Charting a Path for an Unmanned U.S. Navy Fleet

OPINION — “The Medium Unmanned Surface Vessel (MUSV) is an affordable and flexible vessel capable of filling multiple roles within the [U.S. Navy] [...] More

Ukraine’s Defense may Hinge on Offensive Operations

Ukraine’s Defense may Hinge on Offensive Operations

CIPHER BRIEF REPORTING – Russia has been bombarding Ukrainian cities with massive aerial assaults, two days after U.S. President Donald Trump pledged [...] More

U.S. Support for Ukraine Would be Cheap at Twice the Price

OPINION – On a recent visit to Kyiv, we stood near midnight in an operations center surrounded by young Ukrainian drone pilots remotely flying [...] More

China’s ‘Leap Forward’ in Drone Weapons

China’s ‘Leap Forward’ in Drone Weapons

DEEP DIVE – China’s military is in the midst of an innovation and manufacturing boom in drone weaponry — a “leap forward,” as one expert put it, that [...] More

The Genius – and the Implications – of Ukraine’s ‘Spider Web’ Drone Assault

The Genius – and the Implications – of Ukraine’s ‘Spider Web’ Drone Assault

DEEP DIVE – Ukraine’s drone attacks against five Russian military bases on Sunday didn’t just take out a third of Moscow’s fleet of strategic bomber [...] More

Is the U.S. Military Ready for Tomorrow's Wars?

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW — One of the most profound impacts of the war in Ukraine has less to do with the frontlines and diplomatic negotiations, and more [...] More