Why Drones Can’t Replace Traditional Firepower

Why Drones Can’t Replace Traditional Firepower

Author: Silverado Policy Accelerator August 6, 2025 Duration: 48:38
Dmitri Alperovitch talks to air power expert Justin Bronk about why it's a bad idea for Western militaries to follow Ukraine's lead and overly invest in production of small drones like FPVs and other loitering munitions. They also dive into best counter-drone strategies, as well as the implications of Ukraine's Operation SpiderWeb and Israel's forward deployed drones neutralizing Iranian air defenses during Operations Rising Lion for strategies to protect aircraft and air-defenses against such threats. 00:00 Introduction 00:28 Why NATO Should Not Follow Ukraine Into Overreliance on Drones 09:22 Small FPVs vs Other Drone Types 15:42 Best Strategy for Effective Anti Drone Defense 26:06 Would Ukraine Be Better Off Spending Money on Conventional Systems? 28:01 Orchestration of Combined Arms Warfare 29:11 Does Ukraine Need More FPVs or Artillery? 31:33 Can America Afford to Invest in Both Small Drones and Conventional Systems? 34:06 Options for Neutralizing Air Defenses 36:53 The State of Russian Air Defenses 38:53 How to Protect Air Forces Against Operation SpiderWeb-style drone tactics 44:35 Assessing the Efficacy of Ukrainian F-16s    NATO Should Not Replace Traditional Firepower with ‘Drones’: https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/rusi-defence-systems/nato-should-not-replace-traditional-firepower-drones

Hosted by Dmitri Alperovitch and presented by the Silverado Policy Accelerator, Geopolitics Decanted offers a deep and nuanced examination of the forces shaping our world. This isn't about quick headlines; it's a podcast dedicated to patient, detailed analysis and substantive conversations with leading experts. Each episode distills complex international issues, moving beyond superficial narratives to explore the underlying strategies, technologies, and economic instruments at play. You'll hear focused discussions on ongoing conflicts like the war in Ukraine, the multifaceted competition between major powers, and the evolving tools of statecraft, from economic sanctions and export controls to cybersecurity threats and the global race for semiconductor supremacy. Geopolitics Decanted is for those who feel that understanding global affairs requires more than sound bites-it demands context, historical perspective, and a willingness to engage with the granular details that truly define geopolitical shifts. Through these in-depth interviews and Alperovitch's own commentary, the podcast provides listeners with a clearer, more comprehensive framework for making sense of an increasingly interconnected and contested global landscape.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 79

Geopolitics Decanted with Dmitri Alperovitch
Podcast Episodes
Why Europe’s Dependence on the US Military Will Not Change [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:26
On the train ride to Kyiv, Dmitri Alperovitch talks with Franz Stefan Gady, one of the premier European military analysts, about why American military involvement in Europe is unlikely to be significantly reduced in the…
How Drones Are Changing the Nature of Warfare in Ukraine [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:28
On the train ride back to Poland from Kyiv, Dmitri Alperovitch talks with Andrey Liscovich (President of Ukraine Defense Fund, a charity that provides non-lethal aid to the Ukrainian military) about how various types of…
Mutiny in Russia: Who Won, Who Lost and What Caused It [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:29
In this edition of Geopolitics Decanted guest host Patrick Gray interviews Dmitri Alperovitch about Evgeny Prigozhin’s so-called "March for Justice". What was it all about? Did it fail or succeed? What does Putin’s react…
How AI Will Transform Future Militaries (And Societies) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 58:00
Dmitri Alperovitch discusses the evolution of AI with Teddy Collins (former Assistant Director for Technology Strategy at the White House, Research Scientist at Google’s DeepMind and co-author of "Teams of Teams" with Ge…
How China Plans to Win the Chip War [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:25
Dmitri Alperovitch talks with Chris Miller, author of the recent New York Times bestseller Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology, about one of the central elements of the US-China confrontation: se…
How Ukraine Can Survive the Exhaustion of Its Air Defense Stocks [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:06:07
Dmitri Alperovitch talks with Justin Bronk (Senior Research Fellow for Airpower and Technology at RUSI and Professor at Royal Norwegian Air Force Academy) and Dara Massicot (Russian military analyst at RAND) about the di…
Why Taiwan’s Military Modernization Is Moving Too Slowly [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:47
Dmitri Alperovitch talks with Vincent Chao, a Taiwanese politician and former diplomat and national security strategist, about why Taiwan is moving so slowly to modernize its military and increase deterrence of an existe…