Let's talk first.
We just
walked through
kind of the current state of pla
We know that Ukraine has been st
a little bit
in this counter-offensive
to find some momentum.
Why do you think that is?
And can you kind of walk us thro
Sure. Absolutely.
Well, Jessica, one of the big pr
is, is that everything
kind of stayed static
for about eight months
in this in this war.
So the last eight months
before the Ukrainians
moved on their counteroffensive,
the Russians were able to dig
in into this area right in throu
So all of this area
think of it as being heavily
mined, heavily
entrenched with lots of trenches
Plus you have this dragon's teet
a tank, traps that are there.
So all of this
and think of this not only as on
but at least as a double
and in some cases, a triple laye
right in through this area.
Extremely hard to get through
and extremely difficult
because when you look at the way
this frontline actually is set u
you see so many different areas
where there are
geographic vulnerabilities,
but also every time
that there is something like thi
the Russians just have to step b
and keep the Ukrainians at bay.
That's why these things are
are so important at this point.
It does help to kind of see it l
And we know, too, that Ukraine
has been asking
for better air
power for a long time
and they really want those F-16
fighter jets.
The White House is saying
that's still on the table,
but they are warning
about the amount of training
that it's
going to take to be able to fly
What is it
that makes them different from w
the Ukrainians are used to?
So what the Ukrainians are used
are the MiG 29 of the SU 27.
Both of them Russian made aircra
And the ones that the Ukrainians
are actually from the Soviet Uni
So they're really old.
Now, the F-16 can be old, too.
I mean, they were started,
but basically it got
its start in the 1980s
in terms of operational use.
But the key difference is this.
Look at this cockpit right here.
Everything here is digital.
This is a heads up display
that the pilot gets so he doesn'
he or she doesn't have to look d
If they are engaged with it
with a target,
they can see the target area
that they're going after.
They can get the radar pictures
as they need them.
And it's fairly easy to control
but to get used to it.
Compare that to the MiG 29.
This is what the Ukrainians are
flying now. It's all analog.
All of this is completely differ
This is like going back into the
or before
and it's very different to go fr
to this.
Totally.
No, I mean
that even to a layperson like me
I can understand
how very different that is.
And before we let you go,
I also want to talk to you about
because those have been such a k
part of this war.
And Russia claims
there's been several
drone attacks by Ukraine sun
and this is researcher
say Russia's
making its own version
of an Iranian made drone.
What do you make of the use of d
in this conflict?
This is one of the most revoluti
aspects of this war.
So every war has something diffe
added to it.
And in this particular
case, drones like this,
you know, in some cases
you could say, well, I can pick
that the local hobby story
and build something like this
while the Ukrainians are doing i
and they're creating these.
Basically, they're out of a suit
and you can launch them
fairly easily by hand
and you can get intercept
you can intercept signals from t
You can intercept pictures,
you can do all kinds of things.
And it's an intelligence gatheri
as well as a weapons delivery pl
So you have that.
Plus you also have the ability
of the Ukrainians to go into
the Black Sea using seaborne
drones to attack Russian naval b
in this area.
And, of course, the cartridge ri
the bridges here.
All of these are vulnerable
to drone attacks, either
airborne or seaborne drones,
depending on where the target is
So drones are important
and they're going to set the sta
for the next chapter of this war
as well as subsequent conflicts
that are coming up
sometime in the future.
No doubt about it.
And the fact
that they're unmanned, too, is h
and that's important.
One other quick thing on this.
The fact that they're unmanned
is critical
because Ukraine has a real dispa
in population compared to Russia
They need as many unmanned platf
that they can effectively employ
in any of these areas.
They must have those
and they must use them effective
In order to achieve a force
multiplying effect.
Really critical for them.
All right, Colonel, it's
always great to see you.
Thanks so much for being with us