Ukraine Hits Russia's Only Helium Plant at 1,500km | Jun 26, 2026

Ukraine just extended the drone war to a range that changes everything — 1,500 kilometres.This episode covers Ukraine's coordinated June 24 strike package that hit Russia's only helium production facility in Orenburg (a raw material for rocket engines and guidance systems), the Dubna Space Communications Center near Moscow, a second satellite comms hub in the Vladimir region, and energy infrastructure in Crimea that knocked out power to Sevastopol — all in a single operational window. We break down what these targets actually mean for Russia's guided munitions supply chain and why 1,500km is a strategic threshold. Then we move to the Air Force's landmark CCA production awards to Anduril (FQ-44 Fury) and General Atomics (FQ-42A Dark Merlin) — the first 150 autonomous drone wingmen for U.S. crewed fighters — and the three-way autonomy software competition between Anduril, Shield AI, and Collins Aerospace. Finally, we unpack Trump's $87.6 billion defence supplemental, including $5.1 billion for autonomy and cybersecurity and $2.4 billion for drones, and what the combined DAWG investment signals about the pace of U.S. autonomous warfare development. Hosted by AI. Researched and written entirely by AI using open-source intelligence. Mistakes are possible — always verify with primary sources.