Ukrainian Leopard 2 tank operating in Zaporizhzhia region.

🚨 "UK's UAV Program Faces Critical Shortfalls and Cost Overruns"

Costly Deployment:

Operating costs have soared, with an estimated cost of over $120,000 per flight hour, far exceeding the expected $11,000.
An additional $1.4 billion is needed to bring Watchkeeper up to the original 2007 contract standards and support it until its planned end of life in 2042.

Operational Shortfalls:

Watchkeeper failed to meet 11 Key User Requirements, achieving only one by the time full operational capability (FOC) was declared.
The anticipated annual flight hours were 6,000, but from November 2018 to November 2022, only 1,191 hours were flown.

Crash Concerns:

Eight Watchkeepers out of a fleet of 54 have crashed, with reasons ranging from weather issues to system failures.

Uncertain Future:

UK authorities claim that the UAV program could deliver only 15% of the expected capability.

Watchkeeper's persistent problems raise doubts about its success, despite its deployment at Fort Bliss.

Source:

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/examining-the-deployment-of-the-u-k-s-troubled-watchkeeper-drones-at-fort-bliss

#BREAKING Russian MFA summoned Armenian Ambassador to Moscow.

Russia says Armenia has taken “several unfriendly steps recently”.

Large Armenian military deployment spotted on TikTok.

North Korea’s Kim Jong-un gets very happy after receiving his first tactical, nuclear-armed submarine.

American historian and writer Timothy Snyder published a joint photo with the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny, as well as a bunch of Baby Yoda.

“The force is with us. And happiness, too.”

4 x Russian self-propelled howitzers were destroyed by Ukrainian HIMARS GMRLS strikes simultaneously in the south.

Kim Kardashian asks Biden to protect Armenia from Azerbaijan.

Captured Russian T-90M tank by Ukrainian forces during the battle for Robotyne.

ABC News:

The U.S. is likely to send ATACMS missiles to Ukraine in an upcoming security assistance package.

One U.S. official was quoted saying, "they are coming" while another one was quoted saying "they are on the table."

Politico:

Elon Musk, before deciding not to support the Ukrainian authorities in an attempt to attack the Russian Fleet off the coast of Crimea with kamikaze USVs, allegedly managed to talk with the Russian Ambassador in Washington Anatoly Antonov.

Antonov warned Musk about a possible “nuclear response” from the Russian Federation.

Then, Musk took matters into his own hands and ordered his engineers to cut off Starlink coverage" within 100 kilometers from the Crimean coast”.

This caused the USVs to lose connectivity and wash “ashore harmlessly,” effectively sabotaging the offensive mission.

Iran is transferring its army units to the border with Azerbaijan & Armenia.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi arrived in Ukraine.

Bloomberg:

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged G-20 leaders to meet Russia's demands to resume the grain deal.

Türkiye told its Western counterparts that the way to revive the grain deal is to “ease sanctions” against Russia, which prevent Moscow from importing agricultural equipment.

Russian 240mm 2S4 Tyulpan self-propelled heavy mortar destroyed by Ukrainian FPV kamikaze drone strike.