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The fleet vanishes in International waters outside the EEZ.
by est 5y ago
The fleet vanishes in International waters outside the EEZ.
- rob74 5y agoYeah, but if a hobby pilot can fly over the area and find dozens of ships, the Navy/Coast Guard could do the same - send out an airplane to check, and then send a few boats over if it finds something?
- toomuchtodo 5y agoDrones are perfect for this use case, as they have long loiter abilities at higher altitudes. Low single digit Global Hawk fleets can provide high availability over large amounts of geography.
- rafale 5y agoI wonder if commercial satellite photography can do the job during night time.
- touisteur 5y agoProbably best for the job at night would be SAR? A bit more costly than photography though I guess... Coastal radar, with range up to 100 Nmi might also do the job. But what's the use if you're not sending in the cavalry?
- dolmen 5y agoIt does. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27414962 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27414962
- rdtwo 5y agoPerfect use cause for automated killer drones
- Stranger43 5y agoProblem is that over engineered stuff like the global hawk actually have an higher pr hour cost then a converted business jet which is what most countries use.
- hadlock 5y agoRadar on an oceanic buoy is probably more efficient. Ocean buoys are giant metal spheres with some concrete ballast to add stability, attached via steel cable to an old train freight car used as an anchor. You can throw a couple hundred watts of solar and electronics on there no problem. There's hundreds of these things scattered about in the ocean for oceanic research/weather forecasting, not a new technology. Modern, consumer-grade solid state radar ($1200, off the shelf at Amazon or West Marine, google "4G radar") can pick up seagulls sitting on the water at 500 feet, or track a tiny ski 4 person boat at 10 miles. Before you ask, no, there is no such thing as a stealth radar fishing boat.
- yourapostasy 5y ago> Before you ask, no, there is no such thing as a stealth radar fishing boat. China: "Hold my píjiŭ." We're living out a Neal Stephenson novel.
- nradov 5y agoWe're talking about a vast area of ocean. Each buoy would only be able to monitor a small circle. There are limits to anchoring depth so they can usually only be used close to score. And marine electronics require frequent maintenance due to the harsh environment.
- hadlock 5y agoOn page 42 they talk about two different mooring systems for buoys up to 6000m in depth. Average ocean depth is approx 3000m. Marine electronics are considerably more robust than you give them credit. All my consumer grade electronics on my boat were installed in 2001 and with the exception of one LCD display are all in perfect working order. https://library.wmo.int/doc_num.php?explnum_id=7053 https://library.wmo.int/doc_num.php?explnum_id=7053