quote:

Originally posted by ScreamingCockatoo:
AI controlled drone swarms are coming.
And they're hive mind AI.

Imagine thousands launched into an area to seek and eliminate troops.
Each one a flying antipersonnel mine.
Thermal vision. AI target acquisition.

That is the future we’re facing.

That is already being addressed.

I have two family members deep into the evolving battlefield front scenario. One in the upper atmosphere and the other who routinely operates deep behind(or within) the enemy.

They obviously can’t tell me anything specific but I do know that a tremendous amount of resources are being thrown at the next battle scenario. Everything from making satellites more defendable to localized jamming of a small team to be virtually invisible to electronic surveillance.Other things include very small drones that can fly virtually without any noise to using a modified shotguns designed to take out smaller drones. I could go on but you get the idea.

The major concern I have is our ability to manufacture the quantities of whatever systems we need. Say what you will about WW2 but the fact that we could produce armament faster than the enemy could destroy it was a major factor in our winning the war and I don’t believe that need has changed.

I have not seen this noted above: The Israelis are deploying for operational use the Iron Beam, which is a laser powerful enough to take down drones and small rockets, at negligible cost and in (I assume) seconds or fractions of a second. That will be the countermeasure that will render drones ineffective in a war of near-peers.

Iron Beam: Wikipedia

But regarding drones and our military: I understand that field commanders will be able to procure drones without going through regular procurement channels. But that’s part of what the Department of War is doing to make itself more agile in dealing with today’s threats.

Field commanders will be able to buy, fly drones

quote:

Originally posted by sjtill:
I have not seen this noted above: The Israelis are deploying for operational use the Iron Beam, which is a laser powerful enough to take down drones and small rockets, at negligible cost and in (I assume) seconds or fractions of a second. That will be the countermeasure that will render drones ineffective in a war of near-peers.

Iron Beam: Wikipedia

But regarding drones and our military: I understand that field commanders will be able to procure drones without going through regular procurement channels. But that’s part of what the Department of War is doing to make itself more agile in dealing with today’s threats.

Field commanders will be able to buy, fly drones

Israelis have taken note of Ukraine and China.
And are deep in AI warfare research now.

Distinguishing between a bird and a drone is very difficult, even with micro doppler.
It will take an AI to combat an AI.

Those fiber-optic-guided drones trailing the wires everywhere? A simple hatchet would disable those. (Provided you could reach it, of course.)

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
Those fiber-optic-guided drones trailing the wires everywhere? A simple hatchet would disable those. (Provided you could reach it, of course.)

Trees slow them down.
Slow them down and a shotgun with turkey shot should do the trick.
I want to practice blasting a swinging drone target at 30 yards.
If I can hit a clay target, I can hit a drone.

quote:

Originally posted by onegeek:

4- China already has emplaced assets in the US adjacent to military bases and with plans for wholesale infrastructure destruction, both mil bases and civ cities. Hard to fight half a world away when 200,000,000 Americans have no water, power, heat, fuel, or food.

This the crap that scares me. When I saw those videos of Ukranian drones wiping out the Russian bomber fleet while it sat on the ground, the first thing I thought was "what's to stop somebody from doing that here?" I sure hope we've got people working on that, because a multi-billion dollar fleet of B21s and B2s won't do us any good if some Chinese mole in Kansas or Nebraska sends a swarm of these things over the fence at Whiteman. Not to mention all the vulnerable civilian infrastructure in this country.

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:

quote:

Originally posted by onegeek:

4- China already has emplaced assets in the US adjacent to military bases and with plans for wholesale infrastructure destruction, both mil bases and civ cities. Hard to fight half a world away when 200,000,000 Americans have no water, power, heat, fuel, or food.

This the crap that scares me. When I saw those videos of Ukranian drones wiping out the Russian bomber fleet while it sat on the ground, the first thing I thought was "what's to stop somebody from doing that here?" I sure hope we've got people working on that, because a multi-billion dollar fleet of B21s and B2s won't do us any good if some Chinese mole in Kansas or Nebraska sends a swarm of these things over the fence at Whiteman. Not to mention all the vulnerable civilian infrastructure in this country.

I'll scare you just a little bit more:
Think of how many people rely on technology.
As in "Cant get from work to home without GPS on their phone / car".
Whole life revolves around the internet / social media...
Yeah, they're fucked.

Here's another concept for you:
6 meals.
If that don't scare the shit out of you, I don't know what does.

quote:

Originally posted by ScreamingCockatoo:

Trees slow them down.
Slow them down and a shotgun with turkey shot should do the trick.
I want to practice blasting a swinging drone target at 30 yards.
If I can hit a clay target, I can hit a drone.

I hate to play the "Ying" to your "Yang", but...

My drone is 500FT AGL, with a grenade.
I drop the grenade on you.

Have fun with that bird shot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_F4wcB87MiY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd2eStFS1h4

A few misses in this video-
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/FbkLyO1QkpM

Now let me toss two drones or three at you.

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:

quote:

Originally posted by onegeek:

4- China already has emplaced assets in the US adjacent to military bases and with plans for wholesale infrastructure destruction, both mil bases and civ cities. Hard to fight half a world away when 200,000,000 Americans have no water, power, heat, fuel, or food.

This the crap that scares me. When I saw those videos of Ukranian drones wiping out the Russian bomber fleet while it sat on the ground, the first thing I thought was "what's to stop somebody from doing that here?" I sure hope we've got people working on that, because a multi-billion dollar fleet of B21s and B2s won't do us any good if some Chinese mole in Kansas or Nebraska sends a swarm of these things over the fence at Whiteman. Not to mention all the vulnerable civilian infrastructure in this country.

You mean from the Chinese-owned farm right next to the base? A mile from the airfield? That one?

ETA: sorry, it is an RV/Trailer park.

“ ‘Thin Veneer Of Legitimacy’

Business records for the property neighboring Whiteman AFB reveal a curious maze of shell companies that appear to have been established solely for the trailer park’s purchase.

Four days after an entity called Property Solutions 3603 LP registered as a Missouri limited partnership on Aug. 28, 2017, business filings show the company purchased an approximately 25-acre RV park located directly north of Whiteman AFB in the town of Knob Noster, population 2,902.

Three months later, the company registered to operate under the business name “Knob Noster Trailer Park.”

In October 2017, the trailer park was placed under the control of a Georgia firm owned by Esther Mei and Cheng Hu, a Canadian couple at the center of the web of companies including Property Solutions 3603, and two others that have all used the same Michigan address, Utah business filings, Missouri and Michigan property records show.”



https://dailycaller.com/2025/1...ese-intel-miles-guo/

I have an acquaintance who works cybersecurity. We don't discuss his exact work, but there is one thing that distinguishes the West and developed countries.

It's electricity. If it's disrupted for even a few days or longer, we're pretty much dead in the water. Without it, we grind to a quick halt. Very quick. You can imagine a drone attack on critical civlian infrastructure would be nearly impossible to defend against. Everyone talks about the new battlefield, and only little talk is about civilian structures.

Others may have heard one SEAL on a national radio show giving another SEAL’s account of his attempt to snipe Russians for Ukraine. He said the other SEAL was immediately under attack upon arrival, and that he couldn’t stick his head out due to drone swarms, effectively making him useless.

We haven’t seen what is and what will be probable in the near future. We all need to recognize that drones can rule the sea, air, land, and even up in space.

Also, I thought it very sad that it is reported that stolen Ukrainian children are assembling drones and other weapons of war for the Russians. Think of the amount of assemblers the Chinese have over us and the rest of our allies!

MY big fear would be an enemy unleashing millions of drones from containers from every port in the U.S. simultaneously.
These drones wouldn't go after infrastructure, they would target people.

↑ Any country that tried that would be signing their own death warrant. They would be destroyed in days.

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
↑ Any country that tried that would be signing their own death warrant. They would be destroyed in days.

Nuclear? That’s MAD.

How else would you do it?

quote:

We all need to recognize that drones can rule the sea, air, land, and even up in space.

And further recognize that before too long it will be computers and AI deciding this and not humans.

I saw this years ago and it have given me nightmares ever since.

Slaughterbots

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HipTO_7mUOw

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
The Ukraine war was a huge shift in warfare just as big IMO from going to massed formation fighting to trenches from 1860's to 1915.

Drones changed it all.

I saw that the Army is buying something like 250,000 new drones.

Seem like it was just yesterday that tens of thousands would like up on one side (all dressed differently) where one side would yell "charge" in their native tongue and each side would run at each other with weapons of the day until one side was gone. Simple.

I think warfare was always evolving but the Vietnam War changed a lot by the Cong who fought at night, hidden in the jungle and mixing with the native folks. Just my observation.

Remote wars are now the thing though as mentioned.

quote:

Any country that tried that would be signing their own death warrant. They would be destroyed in days

Call a massed drone attack on civilians a weapon of mass destruction. US policy to use nukes in retaliation.

quote:

Originally posted by CPD SIG:

I hate to play the "Ying" to your "Yang", but...

My drone is 500FT AGL, with a grenade.
I drop the grenade on you.

Have fun with that bird shot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_F4wcB87MiY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd2eStFS1h4

A few misses in this video-
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/FbkLyO1QkpM

Now let me toss two drones or three at you.

Yeah, I've watched the videos.
Tried to learn from them.
A dropped grenade vs a quad copter flying through trees, well that's something else.


Let that sucker sit still a few seconds, it's mine.
And it's turkey shot.
If it loiters 500 feet away, it's mine with a .22

quote:

Originally posted by CPD SIG:

I'll scare you just a little bit more:
Think of how many people rely on technology.
As in "Cant get from work to home without GPS on their phone / car".
Whole life revolves around the internet / social media...
Yeah, they're fucked.

Here's another concept for you:
6 meals.
If that don't scare the shit out of you, I don't know what does.

I'd be fine without the tech and even power...for a little while. I've got plenty of food and ways to get more, a lake and river across the street, wood stove and a generator, and the internet is a convenient distraction not a necessity for me. Part of my thinks it might not be a bad thing to let some of society's more useless idiots weed themselves out!

That said, a prolonged disruption in services would eventually become a real problem. Fuel and refrigeration are kinda required, and without electricity good luck getting anything out of the pumps at the local gas station. I'm also insulin dependent type one diabetic, so if the supply of that gets cut off I won't have to worry about any of the other problems for very long.