Drone makers are on a tighter budget. A $2,000 military imager is not a viable proposition for a $400 FPV,

Nor are $37 small screws (“Pentagon Pricing”). Which has implications.

In October 2024 Ukrainian start-up Odd Systems announced that they were producing locally-made thermal imagers. These are comparable to Chinese 256×192 pixel imagers, but about 20% cheaper at $250. Odd Systems say they when they can make their Kurbas-256 in volume the unit price will drop even further.

I doubt that unless that’s a “screwdriver plant”. After all, there are good reasons why «China could not be beaten on price».

The US’ refusal to discuss Russia’s security concerns only means that the portion of Ukraine that Russia is annexing steadily increases. The main Russian demands are removal of the Banderista junta, demilitarization of Ukraine, and permanent neutrality for the rump Ukrainian state that remains after the war. Russia will probably have to temporarily (?) occupy all of Ukraine to achieve thos goals.