This writer claims “How ‘Hedgehog Tanks’ Are Forcing Russia and Ukraine to Rewrite Drone Warfare.”

First — and most obviously — this writing is terrible. It’s both breathlessly melodramatic and logorrheic. It sounds like something I would’ve written in middle school on a bad day.

Second, hedgehog tanks are mostly irrelevant to the actual war as they are not very mobile and don’t help the fighting all that much. They are nearly pointless and not all that effective. A tank that can’t maneuver, that has low visibility from inside and that can’t bring its main gun in play to affect anything is just a really poor and low-capacity APC.

So…this essay is just to say — inexpertly and awkwardly — that people try to survive however they can in a war? Bold thesis. Wish I could’ve thought of something like that.

As to the headline, no, hedgehog tanks are not forcing Russia and Ukraine to rewrite drone warfare. Hyperbolic much? Hedgehog tanks aren’t a significant threat so no rewriting is needed. You just send two drones instead of one, or something with an EFP, or one of those top-secret (really) Anduril Altius munitions the Ukrainians have now, or just hit it with a frickin’ Javelin. Javelins don’t care about cope cages, quills, spines, or any such feature.

When people who don’t know anything about modern warfare write about it, you end up with spacey garble like this.

I regret reading this but it’s too late now.