We’re back with the final Telegram wrap-up for 2024
Like most people, the holiday season has been pretty busy. So, it’s been a couple of weeks since our last Telegram wrap. With each post needing to be properly translated, sourced and assessed, compiling each piece can take some time.
And as it turns out, there are plenty of interesting bits of news this week. Covering everything from substandard equipment to drones equipped with shotguns, there are plenty of updates on social media to pick from. Here are some of the more interesting pieces we have found.

Power Amps & Faulty Equipment

The first interesting piece of news relates to power upgrades to office the shelf equipment. It’s reported that due to a lack of detection equipment for certain frequencies of FPV-style drones, that remotes with increased power levels have been used.
In another social post on a different channel, there was also a breakdown of a Chinese-manufactured power amp that was poorly constructed. Being part of an offensive EW system, the power amp put out just 5 of its rated 25 watts. Even worse, due to poor installation, the system suffered from thermal issues. Airgapped from their cooling systems, the system struggled to control heat effectively, leading to issues with its use.
It appears that regardless of the quality of the systems, experimentation around using output power in an attempt to overcome electronic warfare remains ongoing.

Robot Miners

The evolution of robotics across the front line has been a rapid one and there’s fields like EOD where this evolution has been particularly useful. This post reports that both side are using robotic systems to lay landmines across the front lines.
While there’s little report on the efficacy of said systems for either side, it goes to show that airborne drones are by no means the only area of research in this current conflict. In an earlier Telegram, we reported on Ukraine’s use of the Steam Deck gaming system to control remote gun turrets.
The channel reports that further information regarding automated systems will be released in the future, so if this is where your interest lies it might be worth following our source channel. Find the link at the bottom of this article.

WiFi Bridges

At this stage, the battle for communications and spectrum dominance across the frontlines has been well documented by both sides. Due to Opsec though, it can often be hard to gauge just how much of an advantage each side has over the other.
This post provided some interesting material as it directly discussed some of these issues. While the Ukrainians have access to Starlink and LTE systems to help overcome these issues, it’s observed that often, the Russian side uses a more low-tech approach to overcoming some of these issues.
Wi-Fi bridges are apparently commonly used in some areas of the front where LTE and other systems are unable to be used. The post also goes on to point out that satellite internet for the Russians is, for the most part, unavailable.

Shotgun Drones

Saving the best till last leaves us with this interesting clip that was released. Discussing various methods of dealing with drones above the front lines, this solution was both simple and kinetic.
With a pair of mounted, smoothbore shotgun barrels fitted, the drone becomes a fully equipped and very effective airbone interception systems.
Each round appears able to be fired independently and the example video shows the system taking an enemy drone out with a single shot. The post notes that in the early days of the war, a system such as this faced several issues with implementation. However, at this point, most of those issues appear to have been ironed out, meaning the Ukrainians are left with a rather useful system for intercepting battlefield drones.
This is no small shell either. The attached video showed an impressively large fireball when the system was fired, and the enemy drone appeared to be downed with a single shot.
The battles for drone superiority seems to get more high-tech with each passing month.
This drone sported a pair of shutgun barrels of unknown size / calibre. Source: Telegram.
Have you got an interesting tip? Have you seen an intriguing Social Media post that you think needs some extra attention? We’re always looking for new stories that focus on current events and issues.
If you find something that you think is worth a story, send an email or find us on Bluesky to send your story.
If you’d like to review the source channel on Telegram for today’s material, you can do so by visiting this link.
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