The age of infantry is rapidly drawing to a close. https://t.co/t7Boqc1xBP
— Noah Smith 🐇🇺🇸🇺🇦🇹🇼 (@Noahpinion) December 23, 2025
Eh, the age of front line infantry is drawing to a close. The Russia-Ukraine war is not going to be the typical case as the Ukraine side is very personnel-constrained and the Russians are as well, just less so.
Neither side is or can execute any combined arms maneuvers or achieve tactical breakthroughs leading to meaningful gains simply because they do not have the people to do so vs. the drone threat. With better-staffed and higher-quality military organizations that can execute rapid armor advances with adequate air power combined with quality air defense, the battlefield will look much different.
In a real unit capable of maneuvering with credible drone defense in tow, the true front line will be an AI-based autonomous drone mobile picket for both recon and force projection that both attempts to wipe out enemy drones and the command and control of said drones. A few kilometers behind this line will be APCs, short-range air defense, other armor, as well as self-propelled howitzers and the like. In these APCs — protected by platforms such as the Skyranger 30 — will be infantry capable of rapid dismount and dispatching remaining resisting enemy infantry. The need for this capability will not go away any time soon.
This is a more realistic scenario than what Noah is expostulating here for major power and even many regional wars.