Contemporary politics,local and international current affairs, science, music and extracts from the Queensland Newspaper "THE WORKER" documenting the proud history of the Labour Movement.
MAHATMA GANDHI ~ Truth never damages a cause that is just.
Israel's military says strikes hit 40 different targets across Gaza on Friday. (Reuters: Saeed Mohammed)
In short:
First responders in Gaza say 16 people were killed in Israeli air strikes on Friday, local time.
Air raid sirens also blared in parts of Israel as Hamas launched rockets across the border.
What's next?
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned further rocket launches by Hamas would prompt intense retaliatory strikes.
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Israel's
military has launched a series of strikes against targets across Gaza
on Friday, local time, which the Hamas-run civil defence service says
killed 16 people.
It came on the same day air raid sirens sounded in parts of Israel, prompted by the launching of three rockets by Hamas.
Israel's
defence minister, Israel Katz, warned of intense retaliation if the
Palestinian militant group continues launching rockets from Gaza.
The
military said one of Friday's rockets "fell adjacent to the community
of Nir Am, and the second projectile fell in an open area".
Earlier in the day, it said another rocket fired from Gaza had triggered sirens near Beeri.
No injuries were reported from the launches.
Meanwhile, first responders in Gaza say the air strikes on Friday killed 16 people in the enclave.
The
spokesman for Gaza's Hamas-run civil defence agency, Mahmoud Bassal,
said the victims included children who were killed in air strikes on
Gaza City, the central Maghazi refugee camp, and the southern city of
Rafah.
"Friday was a harsh day
for the residents of Gaza, particularly in Gaza City, due to the
continuous Israeli bombardment," he said.
Israel's military said the strikes were aimed at "approximately 40 Hamas terrorist gathering points" in Gaza.
It said many of the targets were embedded in former schools.
There were seens of anguish at hospitals after the strikes. (Reuters: Saeed Mohammed)
Mr
Bassal denied the Israeli military's claims, accusing Israeli forces of
"committing massacres under the pretext of the presence of militants".
The
Israeli army has conducted intense raids in Gaza's north since October
last year, claiming it aims to keep Hamas fighters from regrouping
there.
The Palestinian health ministry on Friday updated the death toll from strikes on Thursday to at least 71 people.
UN urges actions amid freezing conditions
The
United Nations's migration agency on Friday said it was alarmed by the
recent deaths of displaced Palestinians, including babies, due to
hypothermia.
In mid-December, a
coordinating group of international and local humanitarian
organisations estimated 945,000 displaced people in Gaza still needed
help to find shelter from freezing conditions.
While
the UN's International Organisation for Migration (IOM) had more than
1.5 million winter supplies such as tents and bedding kits ready at
warehouses, it said "severe access restrictions" were preventing them
from being deployed.
"Vulnerable
people, including at least seven infants, have died from hypothermia,
and these tragic deaths underscore the urgent need for shelter and other
help to get to the people of Gaza immediately," IOM director general
Amy Pope said.
Various organisations say nearly 1 million Palestinians are without shelter through the Northern Hemisphere's winter. (Reuters: Abd Elhkeem Khaled)
The IOM called for a ceasefire and unimpeded humanitarian access, along with the release of all hostages.
The
war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas's October 7, 2023 terror attack on
Israel, which resulted in the deaths of over 1,200 people, mostly
civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
The terrorists also seized at least 250 hostages, 96 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel's
retaliatory response has so far killed more than 45,500 people in Gaza,
the majority civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health
ministry, figures which the UN considers reliable.
'Indirect' ceasefire talks resume
Hamas announced truce talks between it and Israel would resume on Friday.
It
follows Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorising Israeli
negotiators to continue talks in the Qatari capital Doha.
Mediators
Qatar, Egypt and the United States have been engaged in months of
back-and-forth talks between Israel and Hamas that have failed to end
more than a year of devastating conflict in Gaza.
A key obstacle to a deal has been Israel's reluctance to agree to a lasting ceasefire.
In
December, Qatar expressed optimism that "momentum" was returning to the
talks following Donald Trump's election victory in the United States.
But
a war of words then broke out with Hamas accusing Israel of setting
"new conditions" while Israel accused Hamas of creating "new obstacles"
to a deal.
In its Friday
statement, Hamas said it reaffirmed its "seriousness, positivity and
commitment to reaching an agreement as soon as possible that meets the
aspirations and goals of our steadfast and resilient people".
Temperatures
across south-east states are predicted to soar up to 12 degrees Celsius
above the January average this weekend, raising the risk of major fire
outbreaks in South Australia and Victoria.
For
eastern New South Wales, temperatures will peak on Monday, including
highs nudging 40C in Western Sydney, before a cool change flushes out
the heat and threatens the fifth India-Australia test match on Tuesday.
A heatwave will spread from the north west to Tasmania this weekend and become severe in parts of eastern NSW and Gippsland.
And while the south-east sweats, the tropics are stuck in a holding pattern, with still no sign of the staple summer monsoon.
The
ongoing absence of monsoon westerlies is unusual this deep into the wet
season, and will result in its latest onset in at least 25 years —
while also preventing tropical cyclones reaching our shores.
New Year's scorcher brings fire threat
In a repeat of the pattern seen numerous times through December, another heatwave is sweeping east across Australia.
This
next burst of scorching temperatures developed in Western Australia
this week, sending maximums as much as 17C above average on Thursday,
including a high of 43C at Esperance on the state's south coast — the
town's hottest January day in 12 years.
The
broad mass of hot air then tracked through the western interior on
Friday and is now descending over south-east states as a sweltering
north-westerly blows south off the outback deserts.
Temperatures
will exceed 40C on Sunday over much of south-east and central Australia
thanks to a hot north-westerly airstream, bringing fire threats to some
parts of the country. (Supplied: DFES incident photographer)
Today's
highs should exceed 40C over northern Victoria, western NSW and inland
SA, peaking at around 45C over the central interior.
And
as temperatures rise so will the fire threat — despite relatively light
winds, exceptionally low humidity down to just five per cent will lift
dangers into the "extreme" category over Victoria's Wimmera and SA's
Mount Lofty Ranges, Murraylands and south-east districts.
For
coastal areas today, a brief afternoon sea-breeze will bring slight
relief, although both Adelaide and Melbourne should still reach the mid
to high 30s.
Parts of Perth baked through temperatures above 40C on New Years Day as the heatwave developed across WA. (Supplied: John James)
The
hot north-westerly winds will continue through Sunday, leading to a
second consecutive day above 40C for the south-east inland, however the
heat will also reach eastern NSW, sending Western Sydney to 39C.
While
humidity will rise tomorrow, freshening winds will offset the increase
in moisture, again leading to extreme fire danger in parts of SA and
inland Victoria.
Cool change to bring widespread rain
As with most heatwaves, relief will arrive in the form of a cooler southerly airstream off the Southern Ocean.
The
wind change will reach the SA coast on Sunday afternoon, sweep through
Victoria on Monday, then reach most of NSW on Tuesday.
Most
regions can expect a 24-hour temperature drop of around 10 to 15C, for
example Melbourne is forecast to fall from 38C on Sunday to 23C on
Monday.
A cool southerly change will sweep east from the SA coast on Sunday afternoon, to reach eastern NSW on Tuesday.
So when will it reach each capital?
Adelaide: late Sunday afternoon. Drop from the mid-30s to the mid 20s in a few hours.
Melbourne: Monday morning. After a very muggy night above 25C a drop below 20C by midday.
Canberra: late Monday night. After reaching the mid-30s a drop to the mind teens overnight.
Sydney: early Tuesday morning. A 24-hour drop of up to 15C.
Modelling
indicates the drop in temperature will also be followed soon after by a
cloudband with widespread showers across the whole of south-east
Australia.
For Sydney, if the
fifth Australia-India Test goes to Day 5, the prospects of a showery,
southerly change could prevent a result (good news for Australia who
hold a 2-1 lead in the series).
The
system is currently predicted to bring an average of 1 to 10
millimetres for most of SA, Victoria, and Tasmania, with totals closer
to 10 to 20mm for eastern NSW.
Monsoon and cyclones remain MIA
This
northern wet season is not following a traditional path as both the
monsoon and tropical cyclones remain absent from the weather charts.
In
the 25 years of the Bureau of Meteorology analysis charts, the average
onset date of the monsoon trough on Australia's mainland is December 19,
with the latest arrival on January 11, 2013 and the earliest on
November 17, 2007.
The
monsoon trough is the boundary between moist westerly winds which blow
across the equator and easterly winds through the remaining tropics.
Along
the trough is a near continuous and persistent band of thick cloud and
rain, as opposed to the more sporadic showers and storms which develop
over the tropics when the monsoon is absent.
The
monsoon trough also spawns tropical lows and tropical cyclones, but so
far this wet season the great rainmaker has mysteriously disappeared off
our weather maps, only briefly appearing in the northern Indian Ocean
in early December.
The
lack of a monsoon explains why the Australian region has only seen one
tropical cyclone this season, Robyn, and none anywhere remotely near the
mainland.
So when will cyclones become a threat?
Modelling shows the true monsoon may not arrive on our shores until late January, easily the latest onset so far this century.
Israel's military says the strike was intelligence-based and killed the head of Hamas's security forces in Gaza. (Reuters: Hatem Khaled)
In short:
A
series of Israeli air strikes across Gaza on Thursday killed 54 people,
including 11 sheltering in a tent encampment for displaced families.
The
Hamas-run interior ministry says the director general of Gaza's police
department Mahmoud Salah was killed in one of the strikes.
Israel's
military says the attack was aimed at another person, Hussam Shahwan,
who it claims is the head of Hamas's security forces in Gaza's south.
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Israel's
military says it has killed the head of Hamas's security forces in
southern Gaza, Hussam Shahwah, as part of a series of air strikes in the
enclave that killed at least 37 Palestinians.
The
strike in Khan Younis hit an encampment sheltering displaced families,
killing Shahwah and 10 others, according to local medics.
Gaza's
interior ministry, which is run by Hamas, claims the director general
of Gaza's police department, Mahmoud Salah, and his aide, Shahwan, were
killed in the strike.
"By
committing the crime of assassinating the director general of police in
the Gaza Strip, the occupation is insisting on spreading chaos in the
(enclave) and deepening the human suffering of citizens," the interior
ministry said in a statement.
The
Israeli military said it had conducted an intelligence-based strike in
Al-Mawasi, just west of the city of Khan Younis, and eliminated Shahwah,
calling him the head of Hamas security forces in southern Gaza.
It made no mention of Salah's death.
Local health authorities say women and children were also killed in the strike on the Al-Mawasi camp.
Israel's
military said it separately struck the interior ministry's headquarters
in the city of Khan Younis, targeting Hamas militants who intelligence
indicated were operating in a command and control centre.
Six people were killed in the Israeli strike on Gaza's interior ministry. (Reuters: Mohammed Salem)
Six people were killed by the interior ministry strike.
Asked
about the number of people killed in the strikes, a spokesperson for
the Israeli military said it followed international law in waging the
war in Gaza and that it took "feasible precautions to mitigate civilian
harm".
Israel's military has often accused Gaza militants of using built-up residential areas for cover — a claim Hamas denies.
Further Israeli strikes hit in north Gaza's Jabalia refugee camp, the Shati (Beach) camp and central Gaza's Maghazi camp.
Hamas's ally Islamic Jihad said it fired rockets into the southern Israeli kibbutz of Holit near Gaza on Thursday.
The Israeli military said it intercepted one projectile in the area that had crossed from southern Gaza.
Israel has killed more than 45,500 Palestinians in the war, according to Gaza's health ministry.
Most of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been displaced and much of the tiny, heavily built-up coastal territory is in ruins.
The
war was triggered by Hamas's cross-border attack on southern Israel on
October 7 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed and another 251 taken
hostage to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
From cinnamon buns to burgers, fruit tarts to spaghetti, Mokhtar gets wildly creative to feed kids in Rafah. (Instagram: @dr.mo5tar_)
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Looking down the barrel of the camera, the determination and passion are clear to see in Mokhtar Hamdi's eyes.
From underneath the bench, he pulls out large pots and pans and other utensils and gets to work.
From
cinnamon buns to burgers, fruit tarts to spaghetti, Mokhtar seems to
make the impossible possible from his makeshift kitchen in Rafah, in
Gaza's south.
"All I am looking
for is the smile of the children I serve, this is the result I look
for, the things they say to me, their gratitude and love," Mokhtar told
the ABC via voice note.
"There
are many kids at my camp that I see on daily basis, and they are sad,
they cannot find anything delicious to eat — the food they eat follows
the same routine that is repeated and not tasty.
"This
is why I decided to practice my hobby and to dedicate it to serve
children, to feed them with food that I love and I make with all the
love for them."
And he has
documented those smiles, often coated in the remnants of the sweet
treats he is offering up, on his Instagram account.
That is, when he was not sheltering like others from the fighting.
"I am trying to alleviate the suffering of the children who live nearby, and around me in the same camp," he said.
"However, the Gaza Strip is full of camps and hungry children unfortunately and the famine continues to exist."
The high cost of cooking in Gaza
Mokhtar's hobby is getting more and more difficult by the week.
Not
only does he need a sound knowledge of the techniques and recipes to
make the meals, but he and his family also have to scrounge the utensils
he needs and the supplies to start cooking.
Mokhtar cooks everything from hot chocolate and desserts, to his own version of McDonalds. (Instagram: @dr.mo5tar_)
"It takes me sometimes 10 days looking for ingredients for a recipe," he said.
"Sometimes I look for alternatives of the main ingredients of a recipe so that I can cook something special for the children.
"I
only used food from distributed aid once — however most of the recipes I
filmed are from things that I bought from the market, which again not
easy at all, and is very costly too."
Aid
shortages in Gaza have been well-documented, and warnings have been
issued by organisations including the United Nations that Palestinians
in some parts of the territory are on the brink of starvation.
Data
from the Israeli agency that manages and coordinates aid crossing the
border, COGAT, shows aid deliveries have ticked upwards to more than
95,000 tonnes in December.
That is up from almost 34,000 tonnes in October — the lowest level since the start of the Gaza war.
Aid groups say there are widespread food shortages across Gaza. (Reuters: Mohammed Salem)
Those factors combined are making what is for sale in Gaza's markets exorbitantly expensive and limited in range.
"Usually,
I cook three times a week … however, sometimes we face difficulty in
providing the food, so sometimes it is two times a week, sometimes
four," Mokhtar said.
"There is no specific number of days, it depends on the availability of ingredients.
"For
example [in November] I did not cook at all — the borders were closed,
and I could not find anything at the market, even flour was not
available."
War forcing a career change
Four days into the war between Israel and Gaza, Mokhtar's world crumbled.
Two
months earlier, he had opened a dental laboratory after investing his
life's savings into the business. And then it was hit in an Israeli
strike.
The day before that
devastating strike, Mokhtar had been injured in another Israeli attack —
this time on his neighbour's house — leading him to spend more than a
month in hospital.
He fled Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched strikes on alleged Hamas targets in the area.
Mokhtar reunited with his family in Khan Younis, before being displaced once more and moving on to Rafah in Gaza's south.
His injuries still require treatment to this day, more than a year after he was hit.
The focus for Mokhtar now is on his culinary pursuits.
"The situation forced me to practice my hobby because we are in dire need for such a thing," he said.
"The team who is helping me is my family, my mother, my father and brothers, and cousins.
"It is true that there are still many camps and children who are unable to get food.
"Many of them suffer a lot and do not get food, the crisis still exists and it is getting worse and worse."
Despite everything Mokhtar and his family have experienced, he hopes he has made a difference.
"Eventually
the war will end, and what would remain is these memories and good
moments that I managed to create and leave for these children," he said.
"They will have them kept in their memories.
"They will remember me too, and this is something major for me."
These
nocturnal events are more spectacular from dark country sky, but they
can still be seen from a light-polluted city – and for many, no
telescope is needed.
The Conversation
Wed 1 Jan 2025 15.57 AEDT
Each
night an annual parade of constellations passes above our heads but
there are always exciting, less frequent events to look out for in the
sky. The year 2025 is no exception. The night sky is more spectacular
from a dark country sky, but you can see these events even if, like many
others, you live in a light-polluted city. For most events you do not
need a telescope or binoculars.
March and September: eclipses of the moon
Total
eclipses of the moon are more common than those of the Sun. They can be
seen from all the regions on Earth where it is night.
Unlike
eclipses of the Sun, lunar eclipses are safe to watch with the unaided
eye. They are also safe to photograph. A tripod will help, as will a
camera or phone able to take timed exposures.
On the evening of Friday 14 March, people in
Aotearoa New Zealand will be able to see a totally eclipsed moon as it
rises above the horizon just after sunset. Watchers in eastern Australia
will also get a brief glimpse of a partially eclipsed moon after
moonrise, for 34 minutes from Sydney, 43 minutes from Brisbane and 16
minutes from Cairns.
Supermoon with partial lunar eclipse charms stargazers across the world – video
During the early morning of Monday 8 September, the full moon will move into the shadow of Earth and be totally eclipsed. The moon
will turn a red or coppery colour, because sunlight is bent or
refracted by Earth’s atmosphere on to the moon. The bent light is red,
as we are looking at the reflection of sunrises and sunsets from around
the globe.
The
eclipse starts with Earth’s shadow gradually covering the moon over
about an hour. After totality the shadow takes about an hour to leave
the moon.
Seen from Australia’s east coast, the
total eclipse will last from 3.30am to 4.53am on 8 September. From New
Zealand, this will be from 5.30am to moonset; from South Australia or
the Northern Territory, 3am to 4.23am, and from Western Australia 1.30am
to 2.53am.
March: Saturn’s ‘disappearing’ rings
Gazing
at Saturn and its rings through a telescope is always a thrill, whether
you are seeing them for the first or the 100th time. However, in early
2025 the rings will seem to vanish as Earth passes through the plane of the rings.
This
phenomenon occurs twice during Saturn’s 29-year path around the Sun,
that is, at roughly 15-year intervals. Unfortunately, on 24 March, the
date when this will occur, the planet will be too close to the Sun in
the sky for us to observe.
However, in the
evenings until mid-February and in the morning from late March, we will
be able to see Saturn with quite narrow, tilted rings.
Note
that a small telescope is needed to see Saturn with or without its
rings. If you don’t have one yourself, you can go on a night tour at a
public observatory like Sydney Observatory or an observing session with a local astronomical group, such as those at Melbourne Observatory with the Astronomical Society of Victoria.
May and December: meteor showers
A Geminids meteor shower streaks across the sky above the Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona in 2023. Photograph: Rob Sparks/AP
The two main meteor showers of the year are the Eta Aquariids and the Geminids.
In
2025, the Eta Aquariids are best seen on the morning of Wednesday 7
May, while the Geminids will be most visible on the mornings of Sunday
14 December and Monday 15 December.
This year,
viewing conditions for both meteor showers are favourable, in the sense
that there will be no bright moon in the sky during those mornings. To
see them, look towards the north-east (Eta Aquariids) and north
(Geminids) before dawn starts brightening the sky.
The darker the sky you can find, the better. Keep away from street lights or any other light.
January, April and August: planets
The
five planets you can see with the naked eye – Mercury, Venus, Mars,
Jupiter and Saturn – move across the sky along a line called the ecliptic.
As
the planets move, they sometimes appear to pass close to each other and
take on interesting patterns. Of course, they only appear close from
our point of view. In reality the planets are tens or hundreds of
million kilometres apart.
In 2025, these patterns include:
18-19 January: the brightest planet, Venus, is close to the ringed planet Saturn in the evening sky.
1-15 April: Mercury, Venus and Saturn form a slowly changing compact group in the eastern sky near sunrise.
12-13 August: Venus and Jupiter, the two brightest planets, are only separated by two moon-widths in the morning sky.
June and August: constellations
A full view of the constellation of Sagittarius, also known as the ‘Teapot’. Photograph: European Space Agency
As
the year progresses, different constellations appear in the evening
sky. The perpetual chase of Orion and Scorpius (the hunter and the
scorpion) across the sky was noted in 2024.
In 2025, keep an eye on the Southern Cross (known as Crux to astronomers) and Sagittarius (the archer).
The
Southern Cross is the best-known constellation in the southern sky. It
is easy to find, as it is made up of a compact group of bright stars in
the shape of a cross.
Two pointer stars from
the neighbouring constellation of Centaurus, the centaur, also help to
show its position. From Sydney and farther south, the Southern Cross is
always above the horizon. However, in the evenings, it is best viewed
around June, when it is high in the southern sky.
The
constellation Sagittarius is next to Scorpius. In the evenings, it is
best placed for observation in August, as at that time of the year it is
directly overhead.
A join-the-dots look at the
brightest stars of the constellation gives the impression of a teapot,
and it is often referred to by that name. Sagittarius is an important
constellation for Australian astronomers, as it contains the centre of the Milky Way galaxy.
This article was originally published in the Converation. The information in this article comes from the 2025 Australasian Sky Guide.
The guide has monthly star maps and has much more information to help
with viewing and enjoying the night sky from Australia and Aotearoa New
Zealand
Samuel
Bendett, adjunct senior fellow with the Center for a New American
Security, said we had witnessed how countries involved in drone
development had "really progressed" this year.
And more and more militaries around the world were adopting both tactical and mid-range Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).
"For instance, in the civil wars in Sudan, Myanmar and Syria, and the war between Israel and Hezbollah," he told the ABC.
"Clearly, unmanned systems of all kinds are having an impact."
The drones that dominated
Drones serve a variety of purposes, including reconnaissance, collecting intelligence, terrorising troops, and direct attacks.
Mr Bendett said the new drone that shaped 2024 was the fibre optic UAV.
They are a variation of the FPV drones, fitted with a fibre optic cable to transmit signals from the drone to the operator.
Defence analyst Sam Cranny-Evans said the cable-connected design made the drone's signal "unjammable".
"There
is no way for an electronic warfare system to insert its own signals
into the link between the FPV and its operator," he wrote in analysis
for Calibre Defence.
"These
drones still use radio frequency signals to operate, but they aren't
sent via fragile radio waves carried through the air, instead they
travel over a fibre optic cable that is spooled underneath the drone."
A Ukrainian service member holds an anti-drone rifle. (Reuters: Oleksandr Ratushniak)
Electronic warfare (EW) systems have proved to be the most effective way of stopping drones.
When
a drone's signal is jammed, the pilot loses the ability to control it,
or the operator can no longer see the video signal, depending on which
frequency has been disrupted.
The
tethered FPV drones are generally equipped with a 20km cable, and can
reportedly fly for 20 minutes at a speed of 60 kilometres per hour.
They carry a payload of about 5.5 kilograms, but some of the weight is taken up by the fibre optic cable spool.
Kamikaze boat drones
Kamikaze drones continued to be a prominent fixture in 2024.
"Of course, none of the other drones have gone away," Mr Bendett said.
"Throughout
it all, we have seen both sides (in Ukraine) use long-range, one-way
kamikaze drones to strike each other's energy, military, and industrial
infrastructure."
A Ukrainian officer shows a thermobaric charge of a downed Shahed kamikaze drone launched by Russia. (AP: Efrem Lukatsky)
The cheaply-produced "suicide" drones were also commonly used in the Middle East.
Hezbollah was using the Iranian technology to challenge Israeli air defence systems.
They then switched to using new kamikaze drone boats in attacks.
Dimitris Maniatis, CEO of maritime risk managers MARISKS, said the boat drones represented a sophisticated shift in tactics.
These drones enabled the Houthis to strike with more precision and at a greater distance, he said.
Robotic dogs and uncrewed vehicles
There has been greater use of buggy-like uncrewed ground vehicles (UGVs) this year, Mr Bendett said.
They
are used in kamikaze missions, and to shuttle ammunition and supplies
to troops in the trenches and evacuate wounded soldiers.
"We're
witnessing a lot of those developments take shape in Ukraine … there
are several hundred companies working on drone developments, including
on unmanned ground vehicles," Mr Bendett said.
Robotic dogs, which have been described as "ground-based, stealthy drones" also made an appearance on the battlefield.
The dogs were being used to conduct reconnaissance missions and deliver medicines to soldiers on the front line.
However, the US and China revealed this year they were experimenting with robot dogs fitted with machine guns.
AI drones
In
response to the increasing challenges posed by electronic warfare
systems, both Ukraine and Russia were racing to develop drones guided by
AI.
AI drones have the
potential to identify and lock onto their targets without the need for
communication with their pilot, making them impervious to signal
jamming.
Developments in
Ukraine had been broadly split between visual systems helping identify
targets and fly drones into them, and terrain mapping for navigation.
An AI-enabled drone flies in Ukraine's Kyiv region. (Reuters: Gleb Garanich)
Paul
Lushenko, director of special operations at the US Army War College,
said the integration of AI could herald the fourth drone age.
But he was hesitant to say the technologies would be game-changing.
"I'm
really cautious when people start talking about the so-called
Oppenheimer moment that hearkens back to the development of the nuclear
bomb," he told the ABC.
He said AI would likely continue to play a predominantly supportive and informational role.
And it was unlikely that swarms of AI killer robots would enter the battlefield anytime soon.
"We
have a tendency to dramatise the potential for drone swarms, and
oversell how easy it is to incorporate AI into these capabilities. It's
very, very challenging," he said.
"But it's different for robotic dogs fitted with machine guns, they are scary as hell."
What next?
While
drones were capable of shifting the offence-defence balance between
countries at war, they were not creating huge battlefield
"breakthroughs," Professor Lushenko said.
"I
think that this year has been excellent to determine the merits and the
limits of this emerging practice of drone warfare," he said.
"They haven't really achieved strategic level effects … drones have been tactically effective."
Mr Bendett said several trends were tracked throughout the year, and militaries around the world would be taking note.
"I think 2025 can also bring its own surprises," he said.
"It
may be AI, it may be greater use of unmanned ground vehicles with UAVs …
I guess we're going to stand by and see what happens."
