Ukraine used ArduPilot to help it wipe out Russian targets. It wasn’t the first time and it won’t be the last.

Ukraine used ArduPilot to help it wipe out Russian targets. It wasn’t the first time and it won’t be the last.

Open source software used by hobbyist drones powered an attack that wiped out a third of Russia’s strategic long range bombers on Sunday afternoon, in one of the most daring and technically coordinated attacks in the war.

In broad daylight on Sunday, explosions rocked air bases in Belaya, Olenya, and Ivanovo in Russia, which are hundreds of miles from Ukraine. The Security Services of Ukraine’s (SBU) Operation Spider Web was a coordinated assault on Russian targets it claimed was more than a year in the making, which was carried out using a nearly 20-year-old piece of open source drone autopilot software called ArduPilot.

ArduPilot’s original creators were in awe of the attack. “That’s ArduPilot, launched from my basement 18 years ago. Crazy,” Chris Anderson said in a comment on LinkedIn below footage of the attack.

  • glimse@lemmy.world
    53·
    3 days ago

    There is little to no risk with choosing this as your terrorism device compared to the other options. No getting caught planting a bomb, no getting shot when you pull out a gun. Acquiring the parts is cheap, easy, and hard to track. Hell, they probably won’t even catch you if you get shot down unless you leave your remote transmitting.

    And what about that same police force with hundreds of these instead of 1 armored vehicle? They don’t even need explosives, you can put guns or tazers on these things. No witnesses when they kill someone through their 3rd story window.

    I don’t really care who is at the controls, it’s scary that anyone can get it - and I say that as someone who would be crushed if they started heavily regulating flying

    • AnneBonny@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      62·
      3 days ago

      There is little to no risk with choosing this as your terrorism device compared to the other options.

      Hobbyists have been flying remote control aircraft for decades.

      I say that as someone who would be crushed if they started heavily regulating flying

      Flying is heavily regulated.

      • glimse@lemmy.world
        2·
        2 days ago

        Quadcopters are relatively new and the barrier to entry is way down. In the past few years, the technology has advanced considerably and it’s cheaper than ever making it a “reasonable” option for a more casual terrorist. You’re talking to one of those hobbyists, by the way.

        Flying commercially is heavily regulated but purchases aren’t. 3 of my quads are illegal to fly without a license but there’s nothing stopping you from building identical (or better) models.

        This isn’t to say I think they should be illegal. It’s just scary how its easier than ever for someone to become a terrorist from their basement.