5 ms·
...so next step would be strapping anti-tank mine to heavy duty quadcopter? Another possibility would be adding stealthy nose-cones to RPGs. Then you have to i
by vlehto 10y ago
...so next step would be strapping anti-tank mine to heavy duty quadcopter?
Another possibility would be adding stealthy nose-cones to RPGs. Then you have to increase radar power of the defending system. ...which would help enemy artillery to target the tanks.
I'm not saying this system is nullified. Just that there will be ways to bypass it.
- vidarh 10y agoI strongly believe that the next step in asymmetric warfare will be the underdogs using swarms of drones where most are cheap, harmless "toys" to turn it into a numbers game to figure out which 1%-10% are full of explosives. As the cost of small drones drop, you'll potentially be able to drive up the cost of counter-measures dramatically with lots of dummies.
- jabl 10y agoI'm not sure decoys are worth it really. Conventional explosive are cheap. Very cheap. You might as well stuff them into every "thing" you deploy. It's different with ICBM's. But yes, I think you have a point in that with COTS robot technology, it should be very cheap to produce swarms of simple missiles. If the adversary answers with "military-grade" countermeasures, he'd go bankrupt..
- vidarh 10y agoAs someone pointed out elsewhere, though, drones that can carry enough explosives, on the other hand, are not cheap. But drones that can be made up to look like they are drones that can carry enough explosives when seen from a bit of a distance is another matter.
- PeterisP 10y agoThe payload is cheap compared to delivery and control. If you have a type of drone that can carry a useful payload (shaped charge powerful enough to disable a tank, in the ballpark of 5-10 kg, is not that feasible for a small drone - but a something like a frag grenade may be feasible), then you might as make them all real, the dummies would cost almost the same.
- vlehto 10y agoThere was recent news about drone that could carry full sized movie camera. Price was few thousands for the drone. If you go handgrenade size, the drone costs just bit over 100$.
- PeterisP 10y agoA frag grenade costs something like $30 (and that's with military procurement overhead that would also raise the drone price to $300; mass produced third world grenades cost $5-$10 to their armies); a detonator, explosives and ballbearings for a DIY modification to that drone would be much cheaper. Anti-tank shaped explosive charge would be hundreds of dollars but again, a fraction of the drone cost.
- hga 10y agoIf the drone system is capable of aiming, you might want to try this wrinkle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explosively_formed_penetrator https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explosively_formed_penetrator
- vidarh 10y agoThe dummies don't need to be a type of drone that can carry a useful payload, that is the point. They just need to sufficiently resemble one for long enough that you have to shoot them down just in case.