> a couple thousand pounds of TNT or other explosive, a basic aluminum airframe, control servos, a lot of fuel (enough for a couple thousand mile range), a smal

> a couple thousand pounds of TNT or other explosive, a basic aluminum airframe, control servos, a lot of fuel (enough for a couple thousand mile range), a small jet or even turboprop engine, a microchip, and a communications uplink. You could probably build this for about $10K with COTS hardware. In other words, a cruise missile. They cost a lot more than $10k. Still, not totally inconceivable -- being overwhelmed by "small and cheap" is a legitimate risk. I do wonder about subs though, and how effective submarine detection capabilities are. Cruise missile swarms are brute-force and logistically difficult. Better to sneak up and stab them in the back instead? What about long-range torpedoes, perhaps even ones that could be prepositioned like mines, sitting underwater and waiting for a signal to go?