James Patton Rogers
@DrJamesRogers
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Exec Director @CornellTPI | Co-Founder @BISAWarStudies | Adviser on Drones & Disruptive Tech @NATO @UN @UKParliament | Agent @TheSohoAgencyUK
Joined April 2009
Today marks the publication of a true first in the field; the first-ever Handbook on Drone Warfare. With 37 of the world's leading experts, we cross disciplines, exploring the truly global rise & implications of drone proliferation. 50% off with: DGBSS24
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These two images were taken almost 80 years apart - the first in London (1944), the other in Kyiv (2022). Both were ‘vengeance’ weapons aimed at terrorising civilians.
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And it’s not just the weapons that have an eerie similarity, the human impact is also the same. “First came the buzzing sound. Then.the deadly blasts” (NYT, 2022)
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1/8 I had the opportunity to inspect captured Houthi drones. Here's what I learnt and why the latest US/UK strikes on Yemen will likely have little impact on the persistent threat of terrorist drones across the region.
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It's crazy to think that Band of Brothers is now 20 years old! For me, it is still one of the best, and most accurate, war series ever made. To mark this anniversary we have brought back this brilliant talk by @lewis_damian for @CVHISTORYFEST: .🎙️
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I kid you not, I stumbled across this amazing colourised photo of my grandad by complete chance. He is at the front, Sgt Ted Rogers (Coldstream Guards), leading his men into Impruneta, Italy, 1944. Thanks to TIG for permission to use the photo, it made the perfect gift for mum.
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They became known as the 'Spitfires of the Sea', the 2000 small motor boats that defended Britain during WW2. As Stephen Fisher (@SeaSpitfires) explains on today's podcast, these brave coastal forces intercepted E-Boats & even engaged in seaborne dogfights
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1/5🧵In August, I briefed the UN Security Council on the growing threat of drones, urging action against their increasing transnational use. Today's drone attacks on Kyiv show why urgent action is needed. Here are my three main points.
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It’s not often you get to witness history being made, but today @DigWaterloo revealed only the 2nd body ever to be found from the Battle of Waterloo. Watch the full doc @HistoryHit And @HistoryHitWW2 podcast here:
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Around half a million men from the Punjab served in First World War. Until now, their records remained largely unread. Today, @dr_irfan_malik tells me about finding his family in the digitised records, and @GavinRand explains the archive's importance: 🎙
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1/9 I have spent the last decade researching the global spread of drones to terrorists & criminal gangs. Here's why today's tragic lethal drone strikes on US troops (killing 3 & injuring at least 34) has been a long time coming & will likely happen again
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Col. Ralph Puckett Jr., 94, stood in a dress uniform as he received the Medal of Honor for leading soldiers through a fierce attack during the Korean War more than 70 years ago. Far from the 'Forgotten War', for today at least.
You put the lives of others before your own. We see you, Colonel Ralph Puckett.
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To mark the anniversary of D-Day, I place the first 24 hours under the microscope, following in the footsteps of the Green Howards. With diaries, veteran interviews, maps and original photographs, I track every move of the regiment on D-Day. Watch here:
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1/6 Big drone news coming out of Saudi Arabia this morning!. Houthi #drones have allegedly targeted the Aramco oil processing plant near Dammam causing substantial fires. This is no easy feat and if confirmed marks a sea-change in non-state drone capabilities. Here’s why-
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2/8 First, the Houthis do not only get their drones from Iran. Although based on Iranian designs, the group quickly learnt to manufacture drones locally through a mix of fiberglass casting & smuggling hi-tech commercial components. Why is this important?
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Last year, Col. John Waddy OBE sadly passed away at the age of 100. He was one of the last surviving veterans of Arnhem and he went on to command the SAS during the Cold War. Here, Dan & John discuss his truly fascinating WW2 experiences:. Link🎙️:
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How is Ukraine’s counter-offensive going so far?. Some reports suggest an underwhelming & worrying start, others praise the quiet launch & early progress. So what's the truth? I invited Dr Mike Martin (@ThreshedThought) onto the Warfare podcast to find out
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My new book has finally arrived, an early Christmas present from @ManchesterUP! . Now available on Kindle and paperback for £15.99 ($23.99) from Amazon:
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Here are thousands of German PoWs in Moscow (1944). Staggeringly, it took until 1956 for the last of them to be sent home. Today the brilliant @SusanGrunewald1 has been mapping the locations where they were kept to reveal what life was like in the Gulag. 🎙
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Well it’s only once you get to tweet about this I guess. Happy to say I am now Associate Professor of War Studies at SDU. Not much will change, but hopefully it comes with a pay rise. The beer is Denmark is expensive! Cheers 🍻
As of May 1st our Fellow @DrJamesRogers has been promoted to Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science and Public Management at @SAMF_SDU. Congratulations, James!👏. #BeCurious @CWSWarStudies .
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2022 marks the 80th anniversary of the White Rose resistance against Nazism. The White Rose was made up of 5 students & an academic in Munich, who paid the ultimate price for defying Hitler. Hear their story from Dr Alex Lloyd on today’s Warfare podcast:
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After 5 years at the Center for War Studies & DIAS, I’m very excited to announce that I’ll be joining @CornellBPP as the new Executive Director of the Cornell Brooks Tech Policy Institute @CornellTPI. Can’t wait to get started with @sekreps & the TPI team!
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This is an incredible photo. It captures the moment that a secret German weather station, Edelweiss II in Greenland, was captured by US troops in 1944. Here, for the @ArcticInstitute, we outline this history's enduring relevance for today's #ArcticSecurity
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We all love 'SAS: Rogue Heroes', but how true has it been to the history?. Was Paddy Mayne really that wild (& drunk?) Did Churchill's son actually join the SAS on missions? To find out I was joined by expert SAS historian Damien Lewis (@authordlewis)🎙️
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More than 7 million Ukrainians fought in the Red Army during WW2. The Battle of Stalingrad, which ended 80 years ago this week, was one of their deadliest battles. While Putin spouts false analogies, @Iain_MacGregor1 is on Warfare to explain the facts. 🎙️
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They were known as the “Devil Dogs” - the legendary US Marines who fought from Guadalcanal in 42', through to Okinawa in 45'. Today, @sauldavid66, explains how these ordinary men, from very different backgrounds, took on the might of the Japanese Army:🎙️
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5/8 As I stated in my address to the UN Security Council in August 2022, we have reached a point of uncontrolled drone proliferation in the region where drones are "now among the greatest.threats to state security". Why is this?
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2020 was a truly disturbing year for drone warfare. In my latest for @WashingtonPost @monkeycageblog I focus in on the US, Iran, and Turkey to explain why 2021 is likely to be just as bad, if not worse. @lseideas @CWSWarStudies.
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An absolute pleasure to spend the morning with Sir Antony Beevor in the Three Johns pub in Islington. It was here that Lenin allegedly argued for a violent overthrowing of the Tsar, a violent Russian Revolution. Catch our new episodes on the Warfare podcast & History Hit soon.
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By far the most exciting news I’ve had in 2020. I’m now the presenter of the fantastic new ‘History Hit World Wars’ podcast, available on @Spotify, @AppleMusic & @Acast. A massive, massive thanks to @thehistoryguy & the @HistoryHit team. Link:
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3/8 Well, the US & UK "targeted Houthi missile, radar and unmanned aerial vehicle capabilities" to degrade Houthi capabilities. However, the group's drone supply is not finite. They have robust local production allowing drone stocks to be replenished
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4/8 Of course, maybe the US & UK just wanted to send a message that the continuation of such attacks will not be tolerated, which is understandable given the recent uptick in attacks, yet this brings us to point 2: the broader regional drone proliferation & risk of escalation.
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8/8 Put simply, targeted strikes against some limited drone assets held by just one Iranian-aligned group will not solve the issue. 1) we need to be aware of the broader regional threat 2) we need to take action to stem the flow of high-tech commercial components to these actors.
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It's not often you actually get the funding, so it's great to start the week with good news. With colleagues from @CWSWarStudies, @DanishIAS, & @CSS_Zurich I'll be heading up the @NATO_SPS funded 'Vulnerabilities of the Drone Age' project. Full details:
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6/8 Well, Iran has been developing drones since the 80s & harnessed this drone expertise to supply a variety of regional actors who do their bidding for them. This is why there has been an increase in drone attacks against US military sites in Iraq & Syria
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This week in 1942, highly trained Norwegian agents were dropped into Norway for Operation Grouse. The mission: to sabotage the Nazi nuclear weapons programme by disrupting heavy water at Vemork. Here @ArthurLHerman explains how this daring mission unfolded
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7/8 As Jeremy Bowen noted, Houthis "are part of the network of allies & proxies, the so-called axis of resistance, that Iran has constructed to give it forward defence against its enemies". Thus, the Houthi threat is just one part of a much broader threat
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You can also read my NATO Chapter on current/future drone threats and the global proliferation of drones (for free) here:
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It's incredible to think that 'Band of Brothers' came out 20 years ago this month. And excitingly 'Masters of the Air' is deep in production. So who better to discuss this history and future than the fantastic @johnorloff, a writer on *both*:🎙️#WW2
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Spent the day exploring an old Cold War nuclear bunker in Denmark for @HistoryHitWW2 @HistoryHit. What else are you meant to do on a Sunday.
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A nightmare situation unfolding for the captain of the USS Theodore Roosevelt. Docked in Guam, with 4,000 crew, the #coronavirus is "ongoing & accelerating" onboard. "We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die" Captain Crozier wrote to the Pentagon.
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A devoted monarch, her service to the country and commonwealth began long before her assent to the throne. As a teenager, Princess Elisabeth became the first woman in the Royal Family to join the Armed Forces full-time during WW2.
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In 1814 a British expeditionary force landed in Maryland, marched on Washington, brushed aside an American army & stormed into the US capital. Even members of British force described the attack as 'barbaric’. Listen to Peter Snow discuss the history here:
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For those who want to look more into the Houthi drone manufacturing process and use of commercial components, check out this excellent @conflictarm report where some of the images above were retrieved from:
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It’s official! Our new series ‘Untold - Weapons of War’ is now trending as the ‘most popular’ on @HistoryHit!. Check out the clip below & click the link to watch for FREE. #twitterstorians #History #WW2 @DanishIAS @CWSWarStudies @UofGWarstudies @ihr_history @Jakefw @thehistoryguy.
75 years ago, Joseph Kennedy Jr, older brother of JFK and a man who should have been destined for the White House, tested early drone technologies at RAF Fersfield. @JamesRogers tells the story. Watch: Untold - Weapons of War - Joseph Kennedy Jr.👉
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It’s shocking to think, but despite the Blitz spirit, crime rose from 303,771 offences in 1939 to 478,000 by the end of WW2. In this episode, Joshua Levine discusses the myths & realities of the Blitz & the social and political changes it brought about:
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This is the death mask of Napoleon Bonaparte, who died 200 years ago today on May 5th 1821. He died in exile, living in squalid conditions on the island of St. Helena. He was 51. To mark this anniversary, the brilliant @ZwhiteHistory details his demise:
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80 years ago this month the Avro Lancaster Bomber completed its maiden flight. Described by Bomber Harris as his 'shining sword', they flew nearly 300 thousand sorties. Here, the brilliant @JohnNicholRAF explains all about this legendary aircraft:
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Thirty years ago this month the Gulf War began. Codenamed Desert Storm, the offensive continued for 43 days, with a 100-hour ground campaign. Lt Gen Dave Deptula was the principal air attack planner during the war. He takes us 'inside the planning room' on a step by step history.
#OnThisDay in 1991, Operation Desert Storm began. For this extra episode 30 years later, @DrJamesRogers spoke to .@Deptula_David , the principal air attack planner. Listen for an insight into the strategy behind this world changing war. 👉
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8/8 Of course, this is just the start of the action needed. For those interested in learning more about this threat, and a detailed assessment of the issue, I explore the impact of precision weapons and drones in my new book (which came out last month):
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2022 marks 40 years since the Falklands War. Today we released part two of our episode with SAS veterans Sir Cedric Delves and Danny West about the involvement of the SAS in the conflict: 🎙 #falklands #war #podcast
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He was one of the most feared men in Nazi Germany. Even Hitler called him ‘the man with the iron heart’. Yet the Führer’s support could not protect Reinhard Heydrich from the resistance. Today, George Bearfield take us through the day he was assassinated:
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Who would be your Top 5 Military Commanders in history?. Monty, Eisenhower, Alexander or Boudicca? Perhaps Napoleon? Well, to unpack what makes a great (or not-so-great) Commander, I am joined by Prof @antbruceking who reveals his slightly different Top 5:
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6/6 If this technology proliferates to other non-state groups, which it likely will, the character of the terror/insurgent threat will be transformed. Nations, once considered safe from the reach of hostile actors, will be open and vulnerable to attack.
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1/7 The world's first nuclear explosion took place on this day 78 years ago. Hoisted atop a 100-foot tower, the plutonium device called "Gadget" was detonated at 5:30am. Here are 5 quotes from witnesses to the Trinity Test that will get you ready for #Oppenheimer:
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And here is a Washington Post article I wrote in 2021 raising the alarm about the Houthi attacks on international shipping:
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Veterans recall hearing skylarks singing just before the whistles blew at the Battle of the Somme. A century later, these birds remain, singing long after the carnage ended. Here the fantastic @sommecourt explains just why this battle went so wrong:.
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During WW2, the anti aircraft gun sites acted as a frontline against the Luftwaffe. From 1941, they were also the first operational battleground where women served in a military role. Join @Tessadunlop as she reveals this & more remarkable histories: 🎙
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It is publication day! The new @NATO @JointAirPower book on countering drones is out & free to access. Check out my chapter on "Future Threats: Military UAS, Terrorist Drones, & the Dangers of the Second Drone Age". Book: .Chapter:
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5/6 This Stratfor map highlights how this drone expands the offensive reach of the Houthis, giving them a capability that was once only reserved for the nation state. The warning here is that they will certainly not be the last non-state actor to obtain this technology.
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The Tsar Bomba produced a mushroom cloud 7 times higher than Mt Everest & its 8-km-wide fireball could be seen from almost 1,000km away. Today on the podcast @wellerstein takes us through the political & military impact of this gigantic Soviet detonation:🎙
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Dr Mike Martin (@ThreshedThought) is a former Army Captain who resigned his commission to publish a highly critical book on the military involvement in Afghanistan. As the Taliban consolidate power, we revisit his @HistoryHit episode & his take on the war:
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It’s been a great few days with the fantastic @DigWaterloo team filming a new doc for @HistoryHit. and perfect to end our time here by sharing a beer with Time Team legend Phil Harding. Let’s be honest, one of the reason we all love history is because of this guy 🙌. What a show
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2/9 When I spoke with US military personnel the warning was clear "we have lost tactical air superiority. We will not get air superiority in the future. We need to accept this; they [the drones] will get through". This was a key lesson learnt against ISIS
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What is the history of urban warfare and what can this history tell us about the character of the current war in Ukraine?. Today I’m joined by @SpencerGuard to find out more:🎙#UkraineRussianWar #Ukraine️ #UkraineWar
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Today’s news of Taliban gains & rapid withdrawals raises many questions:. ▪️Why withdraw now?. ▪️Was there a better time to do this?. ▪️How might capacity building have been more successful? . @RoryStewartUK joins me to discuss these Qs & the war’s history
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It was said that submarines were so "underhanded, unfair, & damned un-English" that personnel should be hanged as pirates. In reaction, Horton ordered his crew to fly the Jolly Roger after successful patrols. More in today's new episode of @HistoryHitWW2
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It’s been an absolute pleasure & a privilege to host the Warfare podcast, but after 3 years, 100s of episodes & the best guests & listeners you can ask for, it’s time to bring the show to an end. Listen today for the full goodbye message & future plans
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Here another great podcast for the weekend, this one's on Soviet Spy Masters. The brilliant @calder_walton explains how, long before the Cold War, the Soviets learnt their craft and became experts at espionage and infiltration. 🎙️👇.
When did the Soviets start spying?. In this new episode, @calder_walton takes us right back to the start and into the archives with @DrJamesRogers . 👉
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An old friend of mine has been working on the difficult job of digging this Buffalo LVT landing craft out of the mud after 74 years. It was 30ft (9m) deep! Cheers to Mike for letting me post. More photos below.
This is my neck of the woods. As a kid the rumour was that lots of these tanks were surplus to use & had been left deliberately & filled over with soil to provide a new river bank. This one, it turns out, sank in a hole. #WW2 Tank recovered after 74 years
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2/5 First, this is an international problem, and so requires an international solution. From the Middle East to Ukraine, drones technologies - many of which are Iranian in design - are wreaking havoc on vital national infrastructure
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2022 marks the 40th anniversary of the Falklands War. Here a column of Royal Marine Commandoes marches towards Port Stanley, but in this episode we hear the incredible history of the SAS involvement in the conflict: 🎙
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Fantastic day filming with @HistoryHit for a new show on Yalta ‘45. Thanks to @thehistoryguy @Iain_MacGregor1 & @churchill_alex for great debate and discussion.
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The myth of the French 'cheese-eating surrender monkeys' lives on in WW2 history. The rapid defeat and occupation tarnish any memory of French heroics and loss. But as the fantastic @Olivier1Schmitt explains, the French far from 'just surrendered'.
100,000 dead in 6 weeks. Is this a resisting army not putting up a fight?. Olivier Schmitt spoke to James Rogers about the fall of France and its lasting shadow. 👉
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- 1 #WW2 Panther Tank.- 1 Anti-Aircraft Gun.- 1 Torpedo.- Assault Rifles and Pistols. No, not my Christmas list, these were all found by authorities in an 84-year-old German man's basement after a tip-off by colleagues looking for art stolen by Nazis.
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I've not seen the MQ-9 Predator B marketed like this before. Like Russia, there is a push to utilise remote systems for 'securing' remote places #ArcticDrones.
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Thanks to @HistoryToday for the great design work! My article on the 'Origins of Drone Warfare' is out until the end of April. #DroneWarfare. Read here: @peterwsinger @RAIOxford @BulletinAtomic @Bis18marck70 @RikeFranke @JSTORSecStudies
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New op-ed out today with @AgnesCallamard in @BulletinAtomic. We argue that "we need a new international accord to control drone proliferation" & that "Biden should consider supporting such a move. Call it a Drone Technology Control Regime". Full article:
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The average age of a Spitfire pilot in the #BattleofBritain was 20 yrs old & its astonishing to think that many of those involved in designing & building the machines were even younger. Alasdair Cross, author of ‘Spitfire Kids’, reveals all: #history #WW2
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Drones are often considered among the most modern weapons of war, and their use doesn't regularly feature in histories of the Vietnam War. But as @daxe explains, US drones played many important, if often overlooked, roles in Vietnam: 🎙
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It is one of 9/11’s most dramatic & least-known stories. @JessicaDuLong, a mariner who served at Ground Zero, reveals how in less than nine hours, captains & crews evacuated half a million people from Manhattan. A waterborne evacuation larger than Dunkirk:
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Yesterday marked #DDay77, but really this was just the start of the battle. June 6 was followed by 76 days of often brutal, attritional, advances through Normandy. Hear from @okeefehistorian about what happened after D-Day and this fight out of the region:
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3/5 Second, just because drones can strike with 'precision' does not mean they spare civilian lives. In fact, the targeting of civilian sites with such strikes simply increases the certainty of civilian harm. We have seen this before:
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The term 'D-Day Dodgers', used for those who fought in Italy & missed the 'harder' fighting in Normandy, is an odd one to me. As the fantastic @GaryLineker explains to Dan, his grandfather fought in Italy & it was one of the hardest campaigns of the war:.
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Drones armed with Air-To-Air Missiles are being floated as an optimal solution for defending Ukraine against Russian-launched drones. In @PaulIddon's latest article for @Forbes, @SamBendett and I explain why this will not solve the problem.
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Hitler had long prepared for the Allied landings. He would stay up late obsessively sketching out designs for bunkers as part of his ‘Atlantic Wall’ which he hoped would hold back an invasion. Our @HistoryHit drone shots show the sheer scale of the wall in Denmark. #DDay77
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War Studies now has a home @MYBISA!. Follow us @BISAWarStudies as @PatrickBury & I build this up over the next few months. We are keen to get as many people involved as possible, so contact us & submit for our panels at #BISA2020. Details here:
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4/5 Third, we should be more worried about the use of drones in these so-called 'swarming' tactic saturation strikes. They can be used to take out air defence systems, opening the floodgates for a volley of hostile air power:
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I’d like to think I make my own decisions in life. But when you get ‘Captain Professor’ for Xmas & find you’re grandad on the front cover leading troops through Italy, it makes you wonder who really got you into #WarStudies. @smhcentre @DanishIAS @Louis_Halewood @ClaireYorke
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Publication day is finally here! And while I’m massively excited that my first book is out, I also hope it raises awareness about the long history (& shortfalls) of precision weapons & the story behind how drones have come to dominate contemporary warfare:
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Sad to hear that the last surviving Auschwitz liberator, David Dushman, has passed away aged 98. ". we broke through the fence with our tanks. We gave food to the prisoners and continued". Link:
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For most of us, the events of 9/11 were experienced through a TV screen, radio, newspaper or even a history book. But Joe Dittmar’s experience was personal. On September 11th, he was in a meeting on the 105th floor of the South Tower. This is his story:
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Were the Luftwaffe really the mighty Goliath to Britain's David during the Battle of Britain, or were they in fact more evenly matched?. To find out more we released an episode from the @HistoryHit archive with the brilliant @SpitfireFilly:. 🎙
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Drawing on the testimony of warlords and civilians, statesmen and soldiers, Max Hastings emphasises the impact of the Vietnam war on individuals on all sides:
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An Avro Lancaster Bomber was one of the most dangerous places to be during WW2, with a 46% combat attrition rate. Yet all who flew in them were volunteers, including John @meller_henry. Off the back of his new book, John joined me on @HistoryHitWW2. Link:
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I'm intrigued by this 'Drone Assassination' attempt on President Maduro in Venezuela. Some things just don't add up, but the scenario is entirly possible. 1/8 @EFADrones @RikeFranke @MaxAbrahms @delinagoxho @Encyclopediageo @BulletinAtomic @WriteArthur @AthertonKD @NYTimesAtWar.
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Lyn Macdonald, revered as the great chronicler of the human experience on the Western Front, recorded interviews with more WW1 veterans than any other. In this talk @CVHISTORYFEST, Lyn returned to the subject of her first book, the Battle of Passchendaele:
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First day of the new job as Assistant Professor in War Studies @CWSWarStudies 🇩🇰. Great to meet lots of the staff and explore the amazing campus on a sunny day. I even got welcomed with flowers 🌺 👍 ☀️
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5/5 Thanks to @CornellTPL, you can read a condensed version of my UN briefing (including a link to my video address), here:
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What an image to catch - the moment that German soldiers are held up by resistance fighters and disarmed in Copenhagen, Denmark (1945). Here, Danish WW2 historian Rune Edberg explains the dangers of being in the Danish Resistance: @DanishIAS @CWSWarStudies
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When the self-propelled torpedo was invented, it threatened to revolutionise naval warfare. Kate Epstein, author of ‘Torpedo: Inventing the Military-Industrial Complex in the United States and Great Britain’, reveals the development of this lethal weapon.
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