LONDON (AP) — Two men were charged Tuesday with national security offenses over a suspected plot against RAF Fairford, a U.S.-run military air base in England, police and prosecutors said.
British nationals Mohmed Ahmad Abdulkarim and Nouman Essghir, both aged 24 and from London, were charged under the National Security Act, the Crown Prosecution Service said. They are due to appear in court later Tuesday.
Abdulkarim is charged with assisting Iran's intelligence service and Essghir with entering a prohibited place for a purpose prejudicial to the U.K.
RAF Fairford, in western England, has been used by American bombers to strike Iran during this year’s war.
Essghir was arrested outside the base on Sept. 27, when armed police officers and army bomb-disposal experts swarmed the rural area. Scores of residents were evacuated from their homes as police and army bomb-disposal experts searched for explosives.
Police later said they had found a quantity of an accelerant — gasoline — in vans at the scene, but no explosives.
Essghir was initially released on bail before being re-arrested last week. Abdulkarim was arrested in the past week. Six other men have been arrested and released on bail as investigations continue.
British authorities have linked Tehran to the incident, which led the U.S. to pull its bombers from RAF Fairford. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said that the apparent plot was “almost certainly” directed by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
Iran has denied involvement, although it has previously said that it considers any base used to attack its territory a legitimate target.
Earlier this month, the head of Britain’s MI5 spy agency warned that both Iran and Russia were expanding their attacks against the U.K., and that the RAF Fairford incident was not unique.
Ken McCallum, who leads the U.K.’s domestic security service, said Tehran is seeking to intensify its attacks in Britain beyond the traditional targets of Iranians opposed to the country’s Islamic authorities. He said more than 50 people have been arrested over Iran-linked plots in the past year.
“We have seen a range of incidents in recent months that we believe have been directed by the Iranian state, and as the director general of MI5 said just the other week, we are working together to intervene, identify and respond to that threat,” said Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, the head of National Counter Terrorism Policing in the U.K.
___
A previous version of this story incorrectly said Abdulkarim is a British-Iranian national. He is British.
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A golfer walks in front of cut down trees at East Potomac Golf Links near Hains Point in Washington, DC, October 19, 2026. - Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
A federal judge extended an order blocking tree removal from a Washington, DC golf course President Donald Trump is seeking to renovate, while imposing new notice requirements on any other major changes the administration seeks to make on the golf course grounds.
The new 70-page opinion from US District Judge Ana Reyes cited Trump’s own statements about his plans for East Potomac Golf Course.
The judge said she was forced to act now in the long-simmering dispute – which came to a head in recent weeks because the administration cut down 400-plus trees on the grounds with little notice – “because the Government did what it assured all it would not do.”
The ruling is a major setback for Trump’s efforts to turn the beloved but modest public golf course into a championship level course. It also sets the stage for an appeals court battle in a case that had produced sharp confrontations between the administration and the judiciary.
Tensions were ratcheted up for those proceedings when Trump posted to social media that construction would begin at the course “immediately,” while calling Reyes a “crazed lunatic.”
“The events surrounding this case have become extraordinary,” Reyes wrote Monday. The way the Trump administration rushed to chop down hundreds of trees was “concerning,” she said.
“The Government appears to have set the timing of the tree removal and late notice to impede Plaintiffs’ ability to seek Court intervention,” Reyes wrote. “And its recent actions call into question other representations it has made to the Court over these many months.”
Reyes said she was reserving judgment on whether the government purposely misled her. But she indicated she is considering issuing a preservation order for all DOJ communications regarding the tree removal – a signal she may further probe the conduct of the government’s attorneys.
Under Reyes’ order, the administration cannot take any action to cut down, alter or harm additional trees on the grounds – unless to protect public safety, and in those cases, it must give detailed notice to the court. The Trump administration must also give 10 days notice for any plans to close the golf course or if it plans to make “irreversible” alterations to the course’s design, Reyes said.
Just before midnight Monday, Trump railed on Truth Social about Reyes’ ruling, while continuing to vow he will close the course on November 15 to renovate it.
“The judge does not have the Constitutional Right to ‘ask for or receive notices,’ which are time-consuming, unnecessary, expensive, and unconstitutional. We will immediately appeal this decision,” Trump said in the post. “To have to give advanced notices to a judge who has no expertise in Golf, Architecture, Landscaping, Construction, or anything else having to do with building such a World Class Project, is not fair, appropriate, or Constitutional.”
The lawsuit was brought by historic preservationists and individual golfers who alleged the administration was violating environmental law in how it planned to carry out Trump’s wishes to renovate East Potomac Golf Course – which for decades has offered affordable golf access to DC residents. Trump’s plans for the course would likely make it far more difficult to access and expensive to play, while eliminating much of the public park space that surrounds it.
The new decision stems from the October 10 move by the administration to chop down hundreds of trees from the grounds. In the months and even days before the mass tree removal, administration officials had claimed that the proposals for Trump’s renovation were still in their infancy, and there were no imminent plans for making major changes to the course.
After chopping down more than 400 trees, the administration continued to argue that the tree removals were separate from the overhaul Trump was planning and were instead the product of a 2019 proposal to make the course look more like it did when it was first built.
Reyes had expressed deep skepticism of that explanation. She had initially issued a temporary restraining order blocking all tree removal and requiring three days’ notice of any other major changes to the course. That TRO was set to expire on Monday.
In her latest opinion, Reyes concluded that she would trust Trump’s own public statements that renovations were beginning “immediately” over what government officials had claimed in court.
The Justice Department, she wrote, “asks the Court to disbelieve repeated public comments made by the President, who has stated in no uncertain terms that DOI and Secretary Burgum have a plan to redesign the Course.”
Reyes devoted a significant portion of her opinion Monday to defending the judiciary’s ability to serve as a check on the executive branch.
“One branch may not shield itself from accountability merely by invoking separation of powers principles without any reasoning. But that is all the Government has done,” she wrote.
This story has been updated with additional details.
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Politics can be a lot. Keeping track of what's going on can be confusing, frustrating, unsettling and, often, pretty boring. It's no surprise that a large share of Americans feel compelled to step back from following politics or give up on it entirely.
As understandable as it is to give yourself some distance, that does mean it can be hard to get caught up when something important — like next week's big midterm election — comes up. That's exactly what this story is meant to help with.
There's no need to bombard you with every single twist and turn in U.S. politics since President Trump was elected to a second term two years ago. Instead, consider this a zoomed-out, stripped-down cheat sheet of the things you really do need to know to understand what's happening, why it matters and how you can take part yourself on Nov. 3.
Yahoo
What's happening?
The midterms happen in even years when there's not a presidential election (they're called that because they happen in the middle of a president's term).
This year, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives, as well as 35 of 100 Senate seats and the governorship of 36 states, are on the ballot. That means every eligible voter in all 50 states has the chance to, at minimum, vote for their congressional representative. Voters in 26 states can cast their ballots for all three.
What's at stake?
Presidential races are obviously the headliner when it comes to U.S. elections, but midterms are very important too. Republicans have had a "trifecta" — control of both chambers of Congress and the presidency — since January 2025. Unified control in Washington has allowed Republicans to turn Trump's favored legislation — like his One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a tax and spending plan — into law. It has also helped Trump get allies like Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. confirmed to his Cabinet and made it harder for Democrats to rein in Trump's military actions in Iran..
Flipping just one chamber of Congress would give Democrats an effective veto on any legislation Republicans wanted to pass over the final two years of Trump's presidency. It would also provide them with leverage during negotiations over must-pass legislation, like government funding bills or the defense budget. House Democrats are already signaling plans to launch a wide range of investigations into the president and his allies, and even potentially pursue impeachment proceedings, if they gain control of the chamber.
Taking over both the House and Senate would give Democrats even more power to block Trump's agenda. With both chambers under their control, they could pass their own legislation, potentially forcing the president to veto popular bills. They would also have the ability to block Trump's nominees for Cabinet positions from being confirmed and prevent him from filling any vacancies that arise on the Supreme Court.
The midterms will also have a major impact on individual states, including a number of key swing states where the governorship is up for grabs.
What do the polls say?
For months, polls have generally suggested that we could see a "blue wave" of Democratic victories across the country. But whether that happens, and how big the wave might be, remains to be seen.
Forecasters generally expect Democrats to take back the House, potentially with a significant majority. There's much more uncertainty about the Senate. Right now, the polls are showing Democrats doing much better than they historically have in some of the traditionally Republican states, like Texas, Kansas and South Carolina. At the same time, races in some swing states also appear to be quite close. That means that any of the dozen or so competitive Senate contests could be the one that decides control of the chamber.
The polls could be wrong, of course. They have underestimated Republicans to varying degrees in three separate elections during the Trump era. Even a polling error of a few percentage points could mean Republicans wouldn't have to worry about losing the Senate, though the House could still flip. Those recent polling errors were all presidential years, however. The polls have been more accurate over the past two midterm cycles.
Midterms also tend to go poorly for the party that controls the presidency, especially when the president's approval rating is low — as Trump's is right now.
Trump isn't on the ballot this year, but he looms large over the most important issues of the midterms: cost of living and the economy, which are at least partially tied to the president's tariffs and the war in Iran. A recent survey found that both were at the top of the list when voters were asked which issues will influence their votes the most.
Candidates from both parties have focused heavily on affordability in their midterm messages, with Democrats blaming Trump and the GOP for rising costs, and some Republicans breaking from the president by calling for an end to the war or the reversal of tariffs.
A recent poll showed that most voters want Congress to exert more influence over Trump's policies, either to roll them back or to act as a check on his actions.
Other polls haveshown that voters are highly concerned about corruption in government and protecting America's democracy. Issues like health care, immigration, education and crime are also weighing heavily on voters, as they do in most elections.
Many Republicans have made the issue of transgender rights, specifically trans athletes' participation in girls' and women's sports, a significant part of their midterm message. Though polls show that Americans share concerns about trans athletes playing in these sports, other surveys suggest the issue ranks low on the list of factors that will influence how they vote.
One topic that's emerged as a major election issue for many voters this year is data centers. These facilities, which house the servers and other infrastructure that allow the internet to function, have become a point of contention for voters who oppose having them built in their communities. The American public's opposition to data center construction has grown remarkably quickly, and candidates from both parties are adjusting their positions on the fly to try to keep up with voters' opinions.
What to watch in the House
About 80% of the 435 total House races on the ballot are notconsidered to be competitive. That leaves about 80 or so districts that could decide which party wins control of the House. The majority of those competitive seats are currently held by Republicans, which means they face a steep challenge as they try to hold on to their narrow House majority. In fact, many forecasters believe Democrats will take over the chamber.
"Republicans' path to keeping control of the House has all but evaporated," Erin Covey, an analyst with the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, wrote last week.
The real question about the House seems to be: If Democrats win control of the chamber, how many seats will they win?
The fate of the Senate is much less certain. Democrats would need a net gain of four seats to secure a majority. To do that, they'll have to defend the vulnerable seats they currently hold in swing states while also flipping at least a couple seats in typically Republican states.
Polls suggest that control of the Senate could hinge on whether Republicans can hold their ground in conservative states like Texas, Ohio, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas. It's also worth paying attention to Michigan, Minnesota and New Hampshire, where the GOP could make up for any losses in Republican-leaning states by flipping Democrat-held seats.
The list of competitive gubernatorial races looks a lot like the list of competitive Senate races. Democrats are on defense in swing states like Wisconsin, Minnesota and Arizona while also eyeing upsets in red states. The Cook Political Report gives Democrats a slight advantage in three states that currently have Republican governors (Ohio, Alaska and Iowa) and list two others (Nevada and Georgia) as toss-ups.
Just two Democratic-led states (Wisconsin and Kansas) are considered either toss-ups or leaning Republican.
There is a long list of major ballot measures that will be decided on Election Day. That includes two significant abortion-related initiatives. Idaho will vote on whether to override its strict abortion laws and establish a right to abortion until fetal viability, while Missouri will decide whether to roll back abortion protections that were approved by voters just two years ago.
Four states (Washington, Nebraska, Arizona and Colorado) will consider initiatives that would bar transgender athletes from participating in girls' and women's sports. Three states (California, Colorado and Nevada) will decide whether to establish or expand laws requiring voters to show ID when they cast their ballots. Voters in five states (California, Utah, North Dakota, South Dakota and Idaho) are considering proposals that would make it harder for citizen-led ballot initiatives to become law.
There are also some significant races happening at the local level. Twenty-two of the 100 biggest cities in the U.S. will choose their mayors on Election Day. That includes Los Angeles, where moderate Democrat Karen Bass is facing a tough challenge from progressive City Council Member Nithya Raman — who some commentators are calling L.A.'s equivalent to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Is it too late to vote?
Maybe not. It depends on your registration status and where you live. The first step is to find out if you're already registered to vote. You can do that here. If you are currently registered, it may still be possible to vote early or request a mail ballot in your state. You can find out the specific deadlines for your state here or by checking your state government's voter information website. Info on early voting can be found here
Even if you're not registered, you may still have a chance to vote. Twenty-one states and Washington, D.C. allow same-day voter registration on Election Day.
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Momentum is building in Illinois to form a new state, with more counties ready to vote on leaving because of Chicago’s influence.
Eleven counties are set to vote on non-binding referenda this year to secede from Cook County. If all 11 vote to leave they would join 33 counties that have already approved similar measures.
Cook County is home to Chicago, but people in the state and nation have criticized it for its crime rate, cost of living, Democratic leadership and oversized influence on state politics.
Loret Newlin, director of Illinois Separation, said Illinois leadership does not take concerns from other parts of the state into consideration.
“This is our lived experience. We are ignored. We are not taken into consideration when they’re making a lot of the laws that hurt us,” she told NBC Chicago.
Eleven more counties are set to vote on leaving Cook County and Illinois as 33 counties have already approved similar measures (Getty Images)
Iroquois County, just 70 miles south of Cook County, is one of 33 counties that have voted to leave the state. About 73 percent of its voters backed the non-binding proposal.
The state’s 8th most populous county, Madison County, also joined the movement.
“Having Madison and Iroquois on the map, we are no longer rural only and we are not southern only,” Newlin told NBC Chicago. “Now with adding several counties on the western side, that’s equally far north as Iroquois, that’s shoring up that we’re not just for southern Illinois anymore.”
Madison County approved the vote in 2024 and one of the organizers said it’s more than just a symbolic measure.
“I think this movement has a lot more teeth to it than the governor has given it credit for. He's kind of pooh-poohing us and not taking us very seriously,” Dave Stopher, who helped get the measure before voters in Madison County said to NPR. “We're hoping that this sends a very distinct and clear message to Springfield and to Cook County.”
Cook County is home to Illinois and organizers complain about its influence on state politics (Getty Images)
Newlin said the votes are the first step to creating a new state. The group’s plan is based on Article IV of the U.S. Constitution, which was used to create West Virginia during the Civil War.
The state’s General Assembly would have to approve the counties leaving the state, then the U.S. Congress would need to approve the new state.
Gov. JB Pritzker has previously referred to the movement as a “stunt.”
If the 11 counties approve the measure this year, it would bring the total to 44 of the state’s 102 counties that want to leave. Newlin said other counties have also asked her about getting the measure to their voters.
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(NewsNation) — With nine days until midterm election polls close, candidates are working overtime to ensure their messages reach potential voters.
In Michigan, that has meant high-profile political figures stumping across the state as early voting gets underway.
President Donald Trump arrived in Port Huron, Michigan, on Sunday to campaign for Republican candidate Mike Rogers. Meanwhile, in Detroit, Former President Barack Obama appeared Saturday to support Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed. Each made the case for why their party's Senate candidate is best suited to represent Michigan.
Thousands turned out for both events. While Trump and Obama never campaigned against each other directly, the atmosphere was energized as two of the nation's most prominent political figures rallied supporters in the state. Hundreds lined up to see Trump.
The president, joined onstage by music star Nicki Minaj, pointed to his economic policies, saying they had benefited Michiganders.
President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at McMorran Place Sports and Entertainment Center, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026, in Port Huron, Mich. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
“Thanks to my tariffs, we have more factories and plants being built in the United States right now than at any time in history, and you see it all over your state,” Trump said. “Because of me, the auto industry is doing better than it's ever done before.”
Many rallygoers agreed with the president. One Trump supporter NewsNation spoke with said he believed everything is going well except for gas prices. Another noted that difficulties in the automotive industry affected her employment.
“We got laid off from there right around the tariff war time,” said Courtney Warner, a supporter of the president. “The cost of steel just skyrocketed, and then the demand dropped.”
Trump also characterized El-Sayed as a “jihadist,” pointing to the candidate's writings and those of his family. El-Sayed has denied allegations that he or his family have ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, a group that seeks to establish societies governed by Islamic principles and Sharia law, calling the accusation “an insane thing to assume.”
Former President Barack Obama, speaks to supporters during a campaign rally at Cass Technical High School Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, in Detroit.(AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Meanwhile, at the El-Sayed rally, the candidate drew parallels between himself and Obama.
“So when they tell me that ‘His name is Abdul, though,’ I remind them his name was Barack, though,” El-Sayed said.
Obama focused on similarities between his own path to office and El-Sayed's, including criticism from political opponents.
“We have seen this movie before; I starred in it. I've got a long-form birth certificate to prove it,” Obama said. “This stuff didn't work on me, not in Michigan. It's not gonna work on Abdul.”
Early voting is underway in Michigan. NewsNation will have the latest midterm election results from Decision Desk HQ on election night as America votes.
NewsNation's Josie Fischels contributed to this report.
By Lisandra Paraguassu, Brendan O'Boyle and Luciana Magalhaes
SAO PAULO, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva won a historic fourth term on Sunday, the country's electoral court said, in a shock result that defied polls, precedent and global anti-incumbent sentiment to put the brakes on a wave of right-wing election victories across Latin America.
However, his opponent Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the eldest son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, refused to accept defeat and said he would ask for the result to be annulled due to a Sunday ruling from a Supreme Court justice that extended voting for two hours.
Bolsonaro led the election's first round but lost in the runoff by over 4 million votes, rattling Brazilian financial markets which had bet on his victory. His refusal to concede defeat has echoes of his father's reaction after losing to Lula in 2022. Jair Bolsonaro never accepted his loss and was later sentenced by the Supreme Court to 27-years in prison for plotting a coup to remain in power.
The scale of Flavio Bolsonaro's loss to Lula — by more than twice his father's losing margin — and the fact his campaign also asked for an extension due to rains in the conservative-leaning south make any annulment unlikely, analysts said.
Mario Braga, a Latin America analyst at the risk consultancy RANE, said there could be right-wing protests in coming days, but "it's very improbable that it will lead to the reversal of the result."
COMEBACK KING
Investors expect recent bets on a change of government to unwind in a volatile week ahead on financial markets. A Tokyo-listed exchange-traded fund tracking Brazil's Bovespa index dived nearly 15% in Asia trade on news of Lula's victory, while the Brazilian real was set to fall sharply against the US dollar.
The victory marks another comeback in a career full of them for Lula, an icon of the global left and the most dominant force in Brazilian politics this century. The 80-year-old was jailed from 2018 to 2019 on corruption charges that were later overturned, paving the way for him to beat Jair Bolsonaro in the 2022 election.
"He is a statesman, a giant," leftist federal lawmaker Erika Hilton, who was with Lula in Sao Paulo during the vote count, told Reuters.
At times, Lula's reelection looked like a long shot, as voters soured on him and his Workers' Party after years of corruption scandals and rising prices, while sweeping social changes left the former metalworker and union leader looking out of touch with an increasingly app-based economy and its growing ranks of informal workers.
Pollsters said better-than-expected turnout had powered Lula to victory. Leonardo Barreto, the co-founder of consultancy Think Policy, said voters had chosen Lula's familiar embrace over Bolsonaro's novelty.
"People today are choosing between change, with some apprehension, and a known path, which guarantees certain rights," he said.
During the campaign, Lula pointed to a track record of falling poverty and inequality, while unemployment, illiteracy and deforestation hit record lows during his third term.
He warned Bolsonaro would cut welfare spending, backslide on social advances and hand over Brazil's sovereignty to US President Donald Trump, whose State Department led a campaign to get the Bolsonaros back to power.
Lula's win deprives Trump of a major addition to what has been a growing bloc of friendly right-wing Latin American governments that have embraced Washington's agenda on security and migration.
There was no immediate comment from Trump or the US State Department, while Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Latin American leaders were quick to offer their congratulations.
Celso Amorim, a former Lula foreign minister, told Reuters the leftist "would be very important for establishing a point of balance in Latin America. Lula is that balance."
LATE-CAMPAIGN BOOST
Lula becomes the first candidate since Brazil's return to democracy in the 1980s to be elected after finishing second in the first round.
His campaign this year mixed the kind of pragmatism and populism that has shaped his career in national politics for half a century, rolling out a slew of reforms aimed at improving the lives of workers and poor Brazilians.
These gained steam with late-campaign pledges that ranged from free nationwide weekend public transport, which has to be formally submitted to Congress, to a 15% increase in his trademark welfare program that is already being implemented.
Lula also championed a constitutional amendment that became Brazil's biggest labor reform in decades, which passed with wide support in Congress.
CHALLENGES AHEAD
Still, Lula's fourth term could be his most difficult yet, after Brazil elected its most conservative Congress since returning to democracy in the 1980s.
Combined, Bolsonaro's Liberal Party and allied parties could control over 280 seats in the lower house and up to 50 seats in the Senate, enough for comfortable opposition majorities in both chambers.
That may deepen recent trends of presidents ceding power to Congress on the budget, major legislation and key nominations.
Lula faces an economy that his government forecasts will grow just 2.3% next year, adding to fiscal concerns tied to high interest rates and public debt that has risen past 82% of GDP, the highest since the pandemic.
Goldman Sachs said it expects Lula to make modest progress at most to contain spending in a fourth term, as he stays committed to a state-led growth model.
Surging household debt also concerns economists. Trying to address the issue, Lula rolled out a provisional ban on online betting and unveiled a new debt relief program during the campaign.
The incoming right-wing Congress will try to pass structural reforms that favor businesses, experts say, prompting spending cuts that could trigger popular backlash.
(Reporting by Oliver Griffin, Luciana Magalhaes and Lisandra Paraguassu in Sao Paulo; Ricardo Brito, Bernardo Caram and Brendan O'Boyle in Brasilia; Marta Nogueira in Rio de Janeiro, Trevor Hunnicutt in Washington; Writing by Brendan O'Boyle and Oliver Griffin; Editing by Brad Haynes, Gabriel Stargardter, Alistair Bell, Christina Fincher, Andrew Heavens, Nick Zieminski, Aurora Ellis and Lincoln Feast.)
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Twist Robotics' drones can be used as signal repeaters to help the connection between a drone operator and their mission drone.Twist Robotics
Drones in Ukraine act as flying communications bridges between operators and mission drones.
They repeat the operators' signal to allow drones to fly farther while staying connected.
The signal-repeating drones make other drones more resistant to Russia's electronic warfare.
Ukraine has created drones that act as flying relay towers, allowing its drones conducting missions to fly farther while making them harder for Russia to jam.
In a war where drones gather intel and account for more than 95% of Russia's front-line losses, Ukraine wants its operators to keep control of their drones over longer distances with stronger signals that are harder for Russia to break.
One solution is the signal repeater drone, a flying signal booster that operates between a pilot and a mission drone, relaying commands to the aircraft and sending back video and intelligence to the operator. Able to fly much higher than a ground antenna, airborne repeaters can extend a drone's range and help preserve the connection under pressure.
It increases the mission drone's operational range by extending how far it can fly while staying connected to its pilot. It's a similar principle to how wifi repeaters work.
Ukrainian arms maker Twist Robotics makes a signal-repeating drone, born from its Saker Scout drone.
Rostyslav Olenchyn, the company's co-founder and chief information officer, told Business Insider that the drone was widely used for reconnaissance and strike operations, but this war changes rapidly, with arms and warfighting technology quickly becoming obsolete. And without updates, this drone was at risk of falling victim to that pattern in the cat-and-mouse technology race.
Drones needed to be effective at longer ranges, and the Saker Scout's range was "not enough" for many missions. So, the drone was redesigned "for another objective. It became the signal relay station," Olenchyn said.
Ukraine's drone operators want to be able to fly their drones as far and with as strong a connection as possible.Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images
The Saker Scout, able to also be used in other combat roles, can extend the operational range of drones by more than 50 kilometers, according to the company.
The concept of using aircraft as signal middlemen isn't new. Militaries have used helicopters and planes to relay communications between assets and forces disconnected by the terrain, though usually troops rather than drones. These crewed aircraft, however, struggle to operate over Ukraine, but while such air assets are few and far between, drones are prolific.
Large crewed aircraft cannot "necessarily survive in the heavy saturated air of the battlefield," where drones and air defenses are a threatening presence, Olenchyn said. "So the small, versatile platform was a solution." He said that serial production of the Saker Scout with this function started in 2023.
The company's strike drone, the Signal Hunter, can also be used as a relay.
Other Ukrainian companies are also working in the space, with some updating existing drone types and some designing new ones. Roboneers, for example, developed a version of its Wardog drone that can carry relay equipment weighing up to three kilograms, and Skyriper makes the Skyriper-R Airborne Repeater, a dedicated drone with the single function of acting as an airborne repeater.
Volodymyr Zinovskyi, the CEO of the Ukrainian defense firm TAF Industries, told Business Insider that his company started making relay drones last year at the request of units, describing the technology as going from optional to essential.
Brave1, Ukraine's state-backed innovation platform, wrote last year that "the use of UAVs over long distances or in difficult terrain requires the use of repeaters - special devices that help increase the range of a stable signal several times."
Some Ukrainian drones are built for this relay mission, while others can be fitted with add-on repeater equipment.
Twist Robotics' Saker Scout repeats the signal from a drone operator to their mission drone, and the reverse.Twist Robotics
Beyond overcoming geographical challenges, airborne repeaters also help counter Russian electronic warfare by strengthening the communications link between operators and mission drones, making it harder to disrupt, though Russia can still target the relay itself.
An analysis published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a US think tank, last year described the creation of relay systems as a response to growing electronic warfare tactics, including the ability that both sides have to trace drone control signals back to their source for strikes on operators, priority targets in this war.
Dmytro "Liber" Zhluktenko, a former drone operator who now serves as a lessons-learned analyst with Ukraine's 413th Unmanned Systems Regiment "RAID," told Business Insider that Ukrainian forces are "keeping somewhat a stable radio link by mass utilizing signal repeaters."
He said that some uncrewed repeater aircraft are fixed-wing drones, while some are repurposed bomber-type drones. Instead of bombs, it just carries the signal repeater," he said.
"We optimize those signal repeater carriers to just stay in the air for an extremely long time, like one hour plus," he said. "That's their only job: to be in the air." Working with strike drones, they give operators a "great radio link over the target."
Oleksiy, the commander of the 2nd UAV engineer platoon of the International Defense Legion of Ukraine, told ArmyInform, the official information agency of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, last year that his unit uses repeaters on drones to expand the radio horizon of the drones they want to use and fly further to target Russia.
Russia is using the technology too, including to help attack drones fly deeper into Ukrainian territory.
And these lessons aren't limited to the Ukraine war. The US military is also experimenting with ways to extend drone operations and keep operators connected from farther away. The Marine Corps, for instance, has experimented with using helicopters as FPV motherships, as well as handing off control after launch.
Though different from Ukraine's airborne repeater work, both address a similar battlefield problem, which is that drones are only useful if operators can launch them, control them, and keep receiving information at tactically relevant distances.
Olenchyn said that updates, like the signal repeating ability, are critical in combat. He said that every two weeks, the company has "a new update, new kinds of techniques, new kinds of drones or functionality which are released."
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