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.

  • bean
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    77 days ago

    Can you imagine if they had to license it? lol

    Ohhh sorryyyy. We would LOVE to support your attack which will be unprecedented in modern warfare… if only there wasn’t this tiny little eensy-weensy license ‘issue’. We’ve moved to a subscription for your drone warfare software. Per device. You can save 10% if you subscribe for a year. Early termination fee applies. To cancel you’ll have to call and attempt the phone labyrinth. $19.99/min.

    • ssillyssadass
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      17 days ago

      I’m now imagining a scenario in which the democratic nations of the world are in a war against oligarchs with corporate armies, and the corpos losing due to their hardware having licensing issues. Like the corpos are so addicted to fucking people over they can’t help but fuck their allies over.

        • unalivejoy
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          147 days ago

          When open source software has its use limited for war, it stops being open source.

          • trevor (he/they)
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            87 days ago

            Eh. I don’t really care what the OSI a handful of tech giants in a trenchcoat have to say about the ethics of my licenses.

            If someone wants to allow modification, distribution, and usage of your software, in the spirit of open source, but don’t want it to be used by organizations that bomb children, I’d consider that better than an Open Source™️ license.

            • @Saleh@feddit.org
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              47 days ago

              Yeah, i don’t think any military will care about what restrictions you put in your license anyway. What are you going to do about it? Sue them?

                • @Saleh@feddit.org
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                  17 days ago

                  If you create a technology and make it publicly available you need to consider the possible uses and misuses. Misusers wont be held back by a license limitation. That is a simple fact of life.

            • @grue@lemmy.world
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              37 days ago

              The FSF is very much the opposite of “a handful of tech giants in a trenchcoat,” yet they take the same position.

      • @exussum@lemmy.world
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        167 days ago

        You can say this about any change, or innovation - vaccines, democracy, the Internet, psychology.

        If you want to push it completely into a political only view, why should we not become an isolationist nation, which steals but never contributes back?

        • @Vegasvator@lemmy.today
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          57 days ago

          The post I replied to stated it was a project they could support on an article about how it was used as a weapon against Russia. I believe it’s use as a weapon on Russia is why they support it. I asked them a simple question to invoke them to think, but then you chimed about all technology and even vaccines. And then talking about becoming an isolationist nation? What are you even talking about?

          • @exussum@lemmy.world
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            7 days ago

            Asking people to think by riding the line of just asking a question is pretty lame. If you want people to think, don’t bury that. The method you employ is the same disingenuous tactic to defend the other side.

            What if the Russians did the same? They didn’t and it’s not on the table. They’ve already made up a war and prolonged for multiple years in an attempt to kill off and reclaim Ukraine

              • @exussum@lemmy.world
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                117 days ago

                That’s the thing. I’m not replying to you specifically. I don’t think you’re going to change. Chances are most people like you don’t.

                I’m replying to educate all of the onlookers. What this guy did sucks and here’s why. And this is what you do about it.

      • HellsBelle
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        87 days ago

        Even when the other side uses it?

        Sure, if they promise to just blow up empty planes sitting a tarmac.

        Guaranteed Russia doesn’t go for it tho.

    • @Saleh@feddit.org
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      27 days ago

      Well, there is the whole payload aspect you need to figure out.

      If you have that figured out, the rest is and has always been relatively trivial in comparison.

      The trucks in the videos clearly never went through any check of the cargo. Could have had a simple trebuchet design in there and haul some explosives onto the airfield.

      • @jacksilver@lemmy.world
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        37 days ago

        Yeah, that’s something I feel like is being taken out of context. It’s the getting the explosives within range of the planes that was impressive to me. They could have had mortars/rockets/etc. and probably done similar damage at that range.

        I’m sure drones increase the success rate, but it wasn’t drones that made that operation a success from my understanding.

      • @ansiz@lemmy.world
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        27 days ago

        The cargo area had a false ceiling didn’t it? Like I saw one that looked like you could open the back of the ‘trailer’ but there was a fake ceiling with the drones above that.

        • @Saleh@feddit.org
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          27 days ago

          Afaik they had fake ceilings yeah. However noone that would bother to look, would be tricked by fake ceilings. That trick exists since horse carriages. The fake ceilings only give the driver some deniability.

      • IndescribablySad@threads.net
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        358 days ago

        No, definitely terrifying. War should be costly and terrible. That’s the only reason it isn’t more common, that its cost is objectionable. Pax economica, while flawed, is more subjective than ever before. And I do not like that.

        • War should be costly and terrible

          So that only the most powerful and elite can engage in a monopoly of violence eh? I’m far more concerned about a well funded local police agency thinking they need a bearcat, or a global power thinking they need a bomb that can split the earth in half than a neighbor with a drone and a 3d printer.

          You’ve got it all wrong. The dissolution of the high technology, grand tower approach to war fighting is a good thing.

        • War should be costly and terrible

          and it still is and it will be

          that’s the point, more often that not, to take money and burn it while producing more fuel for propaganda

          not saying that’s whats happening in Ukraine, but this has happened a ton in the past and will continue

  • Diplomjodler
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    308 days ago

    "That’s ArduPilot, launched from my basement 18 years ago. Crazy,” Chris Anderson said…

    One hell of an achievement to put in your resume.

  • @altphoto@lemmy.today
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    107 days ago

    We need more. We should all keep the effective strategies quiet and secret. That way they can be used again and again.