WarTalk: Ukraine's Forward Drone Line with Rob Lee

About this episode

Rob Lee discusses the current state of the front line in Ukraine, focusing on drone warfare and the conditions faced by infantry.

Rob Lee dials in from Ukraine for a long-form WarTalk on what the front line actually looks like in year four — where infantry sit underground for six months without seeing the sun, where 2% of casualties come from small arms, and where the "forward line of troops" has been quietly replaced by a forward line of UAV teams. Rob Lee is a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and one of the most-read analysts of the Russia-Ukraine war; he's joined on the show by WarTalk regulars Bryan Clark, Tony Stark, and Justin. We discuss… The six-month infantry rotation and what isolation, drone threat, and zero-line resupply do to a human being Why Ukraine has reclaimed the drone edge — and what the Hornet, Bumblebee, and FP2 are doing to Russian logistics Ukraine's new corps structure, where the brigade-only model broke down, and what the Azov-derived elite corps look like Why 2% of Ukrainian casualties come from small arms and what infantry are actually doing on the zero line Starlink as the indispensable game-changer — and Russia's increasingly serious attempt to jam it Combat casualty care when CASEVAC takes 12 hours, the golden hour is dead, and tourniquets sit on for a…

People in this episode

Host: Jordan Schneider

Guest: Rob Lee

Topics covered

• Ukraine conflict
• drone warfare
• military strategy
• infantry conditions
• casualty care
• logistics

Keywords

• Ukraine
• drone edge
• casualties
• Starlink
• military logistics
• infantry rotation
• combat care

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Foreign Policy Research Institute

Products: Starlink, Hornet, Bumblebee, FP2

Places: Ukraine

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