Matthew Palmer

Can interceptor drones stop Russia’s terror bombing? Vast waves of drones are overwhelming Ukraine’s air defences

The arms race leading to more complex, more sophisticated drones suggests a trend that I've suspected for a while: the difference between what we now call 'drones' and 'cruise missiles' will start to collapse, especially in the lower-middle tier.

Excellent stuff, chimes with my own views.

A strong and measured response to the 'yebbut drones' crowd.

Droning On About Drones Discussing uncrewed systems and the 'drone debate'

A popular piece that I wrote on the subject of drones a few months ago:

Yebbut drones bro. Didn't you hear about the drones?

All the drones. Just drones. Nothing but drones.

DrOnEs

99% of the time, anyone telling you that drones will replace traditional ground and air fires has a directly fiduciary interest in that outcome and there ain’t more to it than that

Excellent stuff, chimes with my own views.

A strong and measured response to the 'yebbut drones' crowd.

NATO Should Not Replace Traditional Firepower with ‘Drones’ Over-reliance on uncrewed aerial systems or ‘drones’ is leading to significant problems for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and is not something Western militaries should attempt to replicate

Just published via RUSI... I suspect this one may generate some strong opinions but I think it's an important set of factors for military planners especially in the Land domain to engage with:

NATO Should Not Replace Traditional Firepower with ‘Drones’

www.rusi.org/explore-our-...

Actually frankly the opposite. The author Blake was a radical who was put on trial for sedition. The lyrics are best seen as embodying his radical mystical politics as much as anything else.

Dear rich Americans: Here’s how you behave in the Cotswolds If you know what year your house was built, it’s too new. Shoes should be wellies and jackets should be wax. Roses are fine, but never red

If it helps any rich Americans, I didn’t know whose side I was on throughout reading this but you can always come to Manchester and be as trashy as you want

www.thetimes.com/article/b95b...

Moldova Matters | David Smith | Substack The number one source for English language news about Moldova. Click to read Moldova Matters, by David Smith, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.

www.moldovamatters.md A good English-language publication on Moldova here, for those interested (no connection, I just think they do good work).

More emails about Moldova and Maia Sandu from Russia's Matryoshka disinformation campaign this morning. A lot relates to the upcoming election, and I'm starting to think they want a repeat of what happened with the Romanian election.

British 999 caller's voice cloned by Russian network using AI A BBC Verify investigation has revealed that the identities of British public sector workers have been cloned using AI by a Russian-linked disinformation campaign.

The AI voice was scarily accurate.

Perfect tool for spreading disinformation, especially when stealing the voices of those in authority.

British 999 caller's voice cloned by Russian network using AI A BBC Verify investigation has revealed that the identities of British public sector workers have been cloned using AI by a Russian-linked disinformation campaign.

The AI voice was scarily accurate.

Perfect tool for spreading disinformation, especially when stealing the voices of those in authority.

Brussels has had a sobering lesson in the enduring importance of hard power.

I'd like to think this would gear the EU into changing, but I am pessimistic.

A reminder:

Disinformation: false information, knowingly shared maliciously.

Misinformation: false information, but the disseminator believes it to be true.

Malinformation: technically-true information, but twisted out of context so that it conveys a false or hostile narrative, knowingly-shared.

I honestly find it baffling that people dislike the idea of the government communicating with a good proportion of the general public through a medium that said public uses.

How else do they think they are going to reach 16-18 year olds?

Their comms are piss-poor.

The general lack of narrative coherency, poor stakeholder engagement,and continual image fuckups all contribute to the sense of a drifting, incompetent government.

This is not helped at all by bad policy choices but smarter communicators would not be where they are now.

I honestly find it baffling that people dislike the idea of the government communicating with a good proportion of the general public through a medium that said public uses.

How else do they think they are going to reach 16-18 year olds?

Media literacy - Committees - UK Parliament This inquiry will seek to establish a clear vision for what good media literacy would look like in the UK, and examine the barriers to achieving this vision. The committee will consider the roles and ...

The House of Lords just released a major report on media literacy. Its core message is that the UK is falling behind, and it’s putting democracy at risk.
committees.parliament.uk/work/9030/me...

This is true also 😅

Reaching people is the hardest thing of all. No use pretending that this is 1985.

Honestly, I think a lot of people just don't understand how comms work.

A good idea. They should have started it ages ago.

Important Commentary from @justin-br0nk.bsky.social; even if Europe finds the money for additional defence investment, it has to prioritise in certain areas. A good place to start is on over-dependence on the US.

A reminder:

Disinformation: false information, knowingly shared maliciously.

Misinformation: false information, but the disseminator believes it to be true.

Malinformation: technically-true information, but twisted out of context so that it conveys a false or hostile narrative, knowingly-shared.

'We are determined to protect the viability of the two-state solution ... unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza,' Downing Street said in a statement. www.ft.com/content/c3af...

Again, why critical thinking skills are crucial in education. If people are bombarded with a constant stream of algorithmically selected content that engages them emotionally and we aren't equipping them with critical thinking skills from an early age then things like this are the inevitable outcome

Psywarriors and Mindbullets A primer on Psychological Warfare

This week, a topic of enduring fascination for me - Psychological Warfare.

In my short primer, I hope to demystify the subject, as well as explain why no, its not just all online, and how Christmas Trees were once used in a Psychological Operation.

Enjoy!

Yes.

As another example that particularly annoys me, there are very few scenarios in which it would be better to use the term 'individual weapon system' instead of simply 'assault rifle'.