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Russia is adding magnetic compasses to drones affected by satellite navigation jamming

The Molniya can use Earth’s magnetic field for basic directional guidance

A camera periodically checks the compass during the drone’s flight

Russian engineers have reportedly fitted a basic magnetic compass onto the cheap Molniya attack drone to counter satellite jamming.

The modification offers a low-cost alternative when electronic warfare systems interfere with GPS or GLONASS signals used by many unmanned aircraft.

Although the upgrade does not make the drone completely immune to interference, it removes dependence on satellite signals for basic directional guidance.

A compass helps the Molniya survive satellite jamming

Most drones depend on satellite navigation systems that both Ukrainian and Russian electronic warfare units have spent the war jamming and spoofing.

Unlike satellite navigation, a magnetic compass reads Earth’s magnetic field directly and does not depend on an external radio signal.

This makes the system difficult to disrupt through conventional jamming, which targets the signals drones use to determine their position and maintain planned flight paths.

The modification could therefore help the Molniya continue following a general course after electronic warfare systems interfere with satellite navigation.

According to Ukrainian defence advisor Serhii Beskrestnov, the latest upgrade was done by Skolkovo technologies.

“Skolkovo technologies continue to develop. A compass was installed on the Molniya drone, and the camera periodically tilts down to look at it,” he said.

The Molniya has also appeared in versions controlled through fibre-optic cables, which cannot be disrupted wirelessly because commands travel through a physical connection.

Those cables, however, add weight and create limitations for range, payload capacity and deployment flexibility.

Beskrestnov has also reported a Molniya attack involving no control antenna, with an onboard camera and computer handling navigation and target selection.

These developments suggest that the low-cost drone is being adapted through different approaches to reduce dependence on vulnerable communications links.

Low cost makes simple upgrades attractive

Russia’s approach to cheaply upgrading the Molniya drones suggests that it is focused on spending less in the war against Ukraine.

The Molniya drones are pretty cheap and are largely made of plywood and aluminum tubing.

This explains why Russian engineers can add simple technologies instead of redesigning the entire aircraft around more expensive navigation systems.

Beskrestnov has estimated that Russia can build 10 to 15 Molniya drones for the cost of one Supercam reconnaissance drone.

The Supercam can cost close to $100,000 per aircraft, according to the estimate, making the cheaper Molniya suitable for modifications that prioritise affordability over sophisticated hardware.

In response to Beskrestnov, Russian military analyst Ian Matveev said, “I’m sure in the documents it says: Navigation equipment based on the principles of Earth’s magnetism.”

His remark captured how a low-cost compass fix can outperform far pricier electronic warfare countermeasures on the battlefield.

However, the magnetic compass does not provide precise satellite positioning, and the drone remains vulnerable to other countermeasures affecting its control, sensors or flight systems.

Via Defence Blog

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Jake Johnson will forever be known to television audiences as Nick Miller, the on-again-off-again love interest of Zooey Deschanel 's Jess in Fox's smash-hit sitcom New Girl . The series helped launch him into the stratosphere as a charismatic comedic sensation, going on to land roles in everything from Jurassic World to the Spider-Verse movies and even his own film, Self Reliance . He's now about to take the pickleball court with his new film, The Dink , premiering on Apple TV this Friday, July 24, and casting him as a former tennis prodigy finding new meaning in playing the hot new sensation sweeping through his strict father's country club. Before that, however, the crew at Mythical Kitchen has prepared him a meal and a chance to reflect on his career thus far.

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Matt Damon says he learned how to play a lead from working with some pretty big film legends.

"It's really lovely to hear Tom [Holland] talking the way he's talking about me because I was around his age, or just a bit younger, when I got to work with Robin Williams and with Tom Hanks, and with Denzel [Washington], and their example is what shaped the rest of my career," Damon said in an interview with VT, after Holland commented that Damon was their "fearless leader" on set. "So hopefully in 20 years Tom's gonna be here with a young actor sitting next to him going, 'I worked with him!'"

Damon worked with Washington in the 1996 war drama in Courage Under Fire before famously working with Williams in the Academy Award-nominated Good Will Hunting, which catapulted his and Ben Affleck's careers (plus, they both wrote the screenplay). In 1997, he starred alongside Tom Hanks in the epic war thriller Saving Private Ryan. Damon truly became a lead in 1999's The Talented Mr. Ripley, based on the novel of the same name, in which he played a con man (who has something bad happen to him on a boat, not unlike his character Odysseus in The Odyssey).

The Odyssey is based on Homer's epic of the same name and stars Damon as Odysseus, the Greek king of Ithaca, as he tries to find his way back home after the Trojan War. It's got a runtime of 2 hours and 52 minutes, which is to be expected for a Christopher Nolan movie (though I'm not complaining).

The Odyssey is in theaters now. In the meantime, check out our guide to all the upcoming movies in 2026 and beyond, or, check out our list of movie release dates.

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Bitcoin Magazine

Lightning Labs Launches Wavelength: “Bitcoin on Easy Mode” for Developers and Autonomous Agents

Lightning Labs , the company developing core Lightning Network software including Lnd , Loop , and Taproot Assets , has released the alpha version of Wavelength . The toolkit enables developers and AI agents to add self-custodial Bitcoin payments to applications through a simple non-custodial API, without running nodes , managing channels, or sourcing liquidity.

In a July 21, 2026 blog post , Lightning Labs described Wavelength as “Bitcoin on Easy Mode for Agents and Humans.” The company stated that the Lightning Network already delivers instant, global, low-fee payments under user control, but previously required infrastructure most builders preferred not to operate. Wavelength closes that gap by turning the hard parts of Bitcoin and Lightning integration into a handful of API calls.

High-Level Overview

Wavelength embeds a self-custodial wallet that runs inside web or mobile apps (via WebAssembly or compiled binaries) or as a standalone client. Users control their own keys on-device. The system supports on-chain Bitcoin, Lightning payments via atomic swaps, and an Ark-like settlement layer for fast, low-cost off-chain transfers that can settle in batches to the blockchain. Every off-chain payment uses a standard BOLT 11 invoice, so the wallet interoperates with the existing Lightning Network from the first integration.

Lightning payments route through Loop for deep, reliable liquidity. A coordination service settles transfers between users but never takes unilateral control of funds. According to the announcement, users can always perform a unilateral exit to on-chain Bitcoin at any time via an explicit exit command, without needing cooperation, the Wavelength SDK is open source .

The same Wavelength API is exposed to AI agents as typed tool calls through the Model Context Protocol (MCP). Agents can hold balances and pay for API calls, data feeds, or other agent services in fractions of a cent. Wallet creation and unlocking designed to remain outside the agent channel so seeds and passwords are not exposed to the model. This pairs with L402 , Lightning Labs’ protocol for machine-native authentication and per-request Lightning payments.

Core commands cover the full lifecycle: create/unlock, balance, recv (for addresses or invoices), send, activity, and exit. Integration options include the embedded SDK, a gRPC/REST API, browser WASM package, and an MCP server. Documentation is structured for both human developers and agents, including llms.txt indexes and agent onboarding guidance.

Availability and Roadmap

Wavelength is available immediately on Signet and testnet. Mainnet access is invitation-only; interested parties can request it after installing the toolkit. Bitcoin is supported at launch. Stablecoin support is planned via Taproot Assets so the same API surface can handle both. Future work includes deeper mobile embedding and optional direct Lightning channel support using Lnd.

Lightning Labs noted in its announcement that during the closed alpha, Lightning transactions carry a minimal 1 basis point service fee (plus standard network routing fees), with ordinary Bitcoin network fees applying for on-chain activity. Pricing may evolve.

On X, Lightning Labs summarized the release : “Announcing Wavelength, the easiest way to integrate bitcoin for agents and humans. With a simple non-custodial API, anyone can integrate Lightning into their app and get instant, high volume, low fee transactions. Machines can pay machines. Humans can pay humans. Anywhere.” A follow-up post directed builders to a form for early mainnet access.

The release positions Wavelength as infrastructure that lowers the barrier for application developers, “vibe coders,” and autonomous agents to offer self-custodial Bitcoin payments by default rather than as a specialist feature. Full documentation, quickstarts, and the open-source repository are available at wavelength.lightning.engineering and the linked GitHub project .

This post Lightning Labs Launches Wavelength: “Bitcoin on Easy Mode” for Developers and Autonomous Agents first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Juan Galt .