Episode Notes:

Mike sits down in Ukraine with Oleksandr "Flint" Nastenko, commander of the 475th Separate Assault Regiment, better known as CODE 9.2. Nastenko explains how his regiment breaks from the typical assault formation by pairing a small infantry force with a large, tightly integrated drone component, and how that combination shaped operations from Kupiansk to Zaporizhzhia. The conversation turns to a question at the center of modern warfare: Mike and Flint address the debate over whether armored vehicles still belong on a battlefield increasingly defined by cheap, mass-produced strike drones.

Image: Michael Kofman