Putin Says Russia Is Ramping up Drone Production Tenfold

 Russian President Vladimir Putin, 2nd right, accompanied by Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, left, and Russian Presidential Aide Aleksei Dyumin, 2n left, visits the Special Technology Center in St Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, 2nd right, accompanied by Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, left, and Russian Presidential Aide Aleksei Dyumin, 2n left, visits the Special Technology Center in St Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
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Putin Says Russia Is Ramping up Drone Production Tenfold

 Russian President Vladimir Putin, 2nd right, accompanied by Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, left, and Russian Presidential Aide Aleksei Dyumin, 2n left, visits the Special Technology Center in St Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, 2nd right, accompanied by Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, left, and Russian Presidential Aide Aleksei Dyumin, 2n left, visits the Special Technology Center in St Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia was ramping up drone production by around ten times to nearly 1.4 million this year in a bid to ensure the Russian armed forces win in Ukraine.

Since Russia sent tens of thousands of soldiers into Ukraine in February 2022, the war has largely been a story of grinding artillery and drone strikes along a heavily fortified 1,000-km (620-mile) front involving hundreds of thousands of soldiers.

The conflict has been a crucible for drone development - and an illustration of the importance of drones to modern warfare, from terrorizing infantry and collecting intelligence to sabotaging infrastructure and attacking arsenals.

"In total, about 140,000 unmanned aerial vehicles of various types were delivered to the armed forces in 2023," Putin said. "This year, the production of drones is planned to increase significantly. Well, to be more precise, almost 10 times."

"Whoever reacts faster to these demands on the battlefield wins," Putin said at a meeting in St Petersburg about drone production.

Both Russia and Ukraine have bought drones abroad and ramped up their own production while drone videos have illustrated the horror of the battlefield, showing deadly strikes on infantry, artillery and tanks.

EYE IN THE SKY

Inexpensive first-person view (FPV) drones - originally developed for civilian racers - are controlled by pilots on the ground and often crash into targets, laden with explosives.

For just a few hundred dollars, soldiers on both sides can inflict vast damage on the other side. A large-scale Ukrainian drone attack on Russia triggered an earthquake-sized blast at a major arsenal in the Tver region on Wednesday.

Putin said that Russia was making almost weekly advances in drone technology and needed to also develop its drone defenses, essentially technology which senses, confuses and then shoots down the attacking drones.

"The key task is to produce a wide range of aerial unmanned vehicles, to establish serial production as quickly as possible," Putin said.



Official: US Warns Iran to Stop Plotting Against Trump

OAKS, PENNSYLVANIA - OCTOBER 14: Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, holds a town hall at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center on October 14, 2024 in Oaks, Pennsylvania. Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP
OAKS, PENNSYLVANIA - OCTOBER 14: Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, holds a town hall at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center on October 14, 2024 in Oaks, Pennsylvania. Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP
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Official: US Warns Iran to Stop Plotting Against Trump

OAKS, PENNSYLVANIA - OCTOBER 14: Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, holds a town hall at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center on October 14, 2024 in Oaks, Pennsylvania. Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP
OAKS, PENNSYLVANIA - OCTOBER 14: Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, holds a town hall at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center on October 14, 2024 in Oaks, Pennsylvania. Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP

The United States has warned the Iranian government to stop all plotting against Republican Donald Trump and said that Washington would view any attempt on his life as an act of war, a US official said on Monday.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said US President Joe Biden has been briefed regularly on the threats and directed his team to address Iranian plots against Americans.

At Biden's direction, top US officials have sent messages to the highest levels of the Iranian government warning Tehran to cease all plotting against Trump and former US officials, Reuters quoted the official as saying.

The Iranians have been told that Washington would view it as an act of war if any attempt was carried out against Trump's life, the official said.

Trump, a Republican, is seeking a return to the White House after losing the 2020 election to Biden.

His campaign said on Sept. 24 that Trump was briefed by US intelligence officials on the alleged threat from Iran.

The White House said the United States has been closely tracking Iranian threats against Trump for years and it warned of "severe consequences" if Tehran was to attack any US citizen.

"We consider this a national and homeland security matter of the highest priority, and we strongly condemn Iran for these brazen threats. Should Iran attack any of our citizens, including those who continue to serve the United States or those who formerly served, Iran will face severe consequences," said White House National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett.

He said "appropriate agencies are continuously and promptly providing the former president’s security detail with evolving threat information."

"Additionally, President Biden has reiterated his directive that the United States Secret Service should receive every resource, capability, and protective measure required to address those evolving threats to the former president," Savett said.