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James Black photo

James Black

James Black is an assistant director of the Defense and Security research Group at RAND Europe.

Articles

Opinion: Putin’s drone strategy shows the cracks in Russia’s war machine

Russia shot down one of its own drones — a large and stealthy S-70 — after it flew uncontrolled into Ukrainian territory in early October, sparking speculation about how Moscow lost control of this valuable asset so publicly. It’s an unforced error that will be keenly felt in Moscow, whose high ambitions for producing its own drones have been slow to take flight. Given shortfalls in manpower, munitions, artillery, and aircraft, Russia has signaled its belief that uncrewed systems could be trans