quote:

Originally posted by sig2392:
I don't think we have seen anywhere near the sophistication of drone technology coming down the pipeline.

Years ago someone made a video of slaughterbots

Not much bigger than a small bird.

Thousands being dropped by one cargo plane that could find people and blow them up.

They could even swarm to get through defenses and get to the target.

It is coming.

I happen to know a guy who worked on some of that. It’s a real thing. Is it usable? Hard to say. C130s aren’t going into contested airspace, so on and so forth about actual local conditions. But much was learned about drone swarms that play into future products. Like dealing with jamming, etc.

I just had a short conversation on the topic with someone who did 35 years total in military intelligence in the Air Force and as a DOD civilian in Afghanistan. They were talking about the use of drones in the Ukraine-Russia war how cheap drones were effectively immobilizing large expensive equipment.

I asked if the war in Ukraine was going to change how we wage war. He first said that we have been geared in waging asymmetrical war and we’re now gearing up for fighting with a same level opponent. On the impact of drones, they’re apparently working on protecting against them either area wide or something else. It wasn’t what I expected; I likened it to when armor piercing tank missiles were introduced, then they developed reactive armor. I was expecting to hear something like “since cheap drones are neutralizing our big expensive equipment, let’s scrap that and do xyz.” I mean doesn’t many cheap small drones make obsolete large expensive weapons?

Hands down the tech is changing by the day. I know our SOF forces are devoting significant Time and resources to UAS activity

Not without ole BB-61

Regardless of the century...war never changes.