Russia Is Making Explosive Drones Out Of Toy Hoverboards
By: bitcoin ethereum news|2025/05/02 22:45:01
0
Share
A Russian hoverboard drone explodes. Via WarTranslated It suddenly makes sense why Russian troops in Ukraine were observed with a substantial number of toy hoverboards. A video montage that circulated online on Friday depicts the explosive ground robots—a pair of the two-wheeled hoverboards attached to an anti-tank mine—blowing up purported Ukrainian fortifications presumably somewhere along the 700-mile front line of Russia’s 39-month wider war on Ukraine. Last summer, the Dva Mayora volunteer organization in Russia developed the hoverboard unmanned ground vehicles and began distributing copies to Russian units. Half a year later in February, Russians were seen loading a bunch of the $100 hoverboards into a truck somewhere at or near the front. It’s possible they’d received them as donations from supporters back home—or stolen them from Ukrainian homes in the occupied zone. Regardless, it should be apparent now that most of the hoverboards along the front line aren’t for riding—they’re for making one-way explosive drones. Flying robots already dominate the battleground in Ukraine. The hundreds of thousands of tiny first-person-view drones Russian and Ukrainian forces deploy every month account for the majority of battlefield casualties—70 percent, according to The New York Times . By comparison, ground robots are less ubiquitous, and for obvious reasons. It’s easier for a remote-controlled vehicle to fly unobstructed through the air than it is to crawl over rough terrain. Thanks to their internal gyroscopes, hoverboards are extremely stable compared to traditional wheeled vehicles. A hoverboard UGV can speed across the front-line terrain faster than other ground robots. And the low cost of the toys mean the mine-laden ‘bots are expendable. No need for a regiment to save them for only the most valuable targets. That the Russians appear to be using their hoverboards to build exploding robots doesn’t mean they won’t eventually ride them into battle. It’s worth noting the growing prevalence of surplus civilian electric scooters in the inventories of Russian regiments. After losing 17,000 armored vehicles and other heavy equipment in Ukraine, the Kremlin is growing truly desperate for battlefield transportation—and has sent troops on assaults on e-scooters, Lada compact cars, aging GAZ-69 trucks and at least one bus. If and when toy hoverboards become more valuable as assault vehicles than drone components, they too might join the war-scooters and compact cars. At least as an assault vehicle, a hoverboard stands some chance of surviving a battle. As an explosive drone, a hoverboard heads out exactly once. Follow me on Twitter . Check out my website or some of my other work. Send me a secure tip. Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2025/05/02/russia-is-making-explosive-drones-out-of-toy-hoverboards/
You may also like
Major Update for ChatGPT: Cross-Platform Functionality, One-Click Website Creation, and Lower Costs
BTC Challenges 64,000 After Breaking 63,000, Market Trading 'Manageable Risks'
As the Bubble Bursts, Who Dominates Attention in the AI Era? A 2026 Guide to Influential AI KOLs in China and the UK
Old Money in Crypto Shifts: Paradigm Raises $1.2 Billion, Half Bet on AI and Robotics
Bitdeer unveils $36M Nevada factory to shake up Bitcoin mining
Perplexity Fine-Tuned a Chinese AI Model to Match Claude Opus 4.8 at One-Third the Cost
Bank of Korea defends bank-first stablecoin plan amid bill deadlock
JPMorgan says bitcoin's main risk isn't Strategy, but blockchain adoption that doesn't benefit public chains and tokens
Fear & Greed Index Today: What Extreme Fear Means for Crypto, Stocks and Gold
The Crypto Fear & Greed Index has fallen to Extreme Fear as Tesla, Intel and the Nasdaq declined. See what it means for traders and explore stocks, crude oil and gold in the WEEX TradFi Trading Challenge.
Labour MPs Push to Make UK Crypto Donation Ban Permanent
Supreme Court ruling expanding Trump's authority over federal agencies raises questions for SEC, CFTC as crypto rulemaking advances
'Bottom building in progress': Analysts say bitcoin holder capitulation signals late-stage bear market
A Comprehensive Analysis: Starting from 1996, Who is Laying the Foundation for the Next Generation of Capital Markets
Luke Dashjr, the Biggest Anti-Spammer of Bitcoin, Inscribed Phrases on the Network in 2011
Whales bought 270,000 BTC while ETFs bled $7 billion. One side is wrong
The crypto IPO class of 2025-26 is down as much as 89%. Autopsy of a listing boom
Robinhood Chain Mining Guide: A Comprehensive Tutorial from Cross-Chain to Memecoin
BitGo CEO says single-digit percentages of bitcoin's supply are 'probably right' for large holders amid Strategy's sale
Major Update for ChatGPT: Cross-Platform Functionality, One-Click Website Creation, and Lower Costs
BTC Challenges 64,000 After Breaking 63,000, Market Trading 'Manageable Risks'
As the Bubble Bursts, Who Dominates Attention in the AI Era? A 2026 Guide to Influential AI KOLs in China and the UK
Old Money in Crypto Shifts: Paradigm Raises $1.2 Billion, Half Bet on AI and Robotics
Bitdeer unveils $36M Nevada factory to shake up Bitcoin mining
Perplexity Fine-Tuned a Chinese AI Model to Match Claude Opus 4.8 at One-Third the Cost
Customer Support:@weikecs
Business Cooperation:@weikecs
Quant Trading & MM:bd@weex.com
VIP Program:support@weex.com
