US military risks falling behind in race to copy battlefield innovations, report warns Read more at: https://www.stripes.com/theaters/us/2026-11-02/military-innovation-us-russia-ukraine-23337461.html Source - Stars and Stripes

Russia quickly adopted, mass-produced and frequently adapted the Iranian-designed Shahed attack drone during its war against Ukraine. But it took the United States about three years to deploy its own version of the drone, Ryan said. “The technology was equally available to all. What differed was institutional speed,” Ryan wrote in the assessment, titled “Fast Following: Military Emulation and Twenty-First-Century Transformation.” The report says the ability to copy an enemy’s innovations could prove as important as inventing new military technologies. During the war, Ukraine and Russia have repeatedly borrowed each other’s drone tactics. For example, Ukraine quickly adopted fiber-optic drones...