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> Everyone has paid attention, and the next drone attacks will be suitably defended against How? They fly just few hundred meters above the ground, launch from

> Everyone has paid attention, and the next drone attacks will be suitably defended against How? They fly just few hundred meters above the ground, launch from field runways, and for the price of a single B-2, a country can buy 2000 of them. Jamming? Even a country like Turkey was able to devise a passable inertial navigation, and and programming for autonomous operation way exceeding an easy to trick "attack anything that moves" mode. To counter them, you will need a very sizeable air force fitted with best radars possible to track them down individually, and strafe with a cannon (since no missile currently can lock onto something so small, slow, cold, and low flying.)

ethbr0 5y ago
> To counter them, you will need a very sizeable air force fitted with best radars possible to track them down individually, and strafe with a cannon Or, you know, currently fielded SHORAD systems and CIWS?
- baybal2 5y ago
  What are their range, and height of radar horizon? Even if that wouldn't be a problem, you will still need really a lot of that.
  - ethbr0 5y ago
    On the Phalanx, about 1.5 - 5.5 km? Either self-radar or tied into a broader net. That's current-gen, repurposed from something designed against cruise missiles. Next gen will probably optimize for or supplement with lighter weight projectiles, depending on whether lighter or heavier drones proliferate.
magicsmoke 5y ago
What about their speed and range? If they fly fast they're not going far. If they go far they're slow moving targets. And if they go fast and far they have expensive rockets attached and you're being hit with missiles instead.
- baybal2 5y ago
  The biggest threat today are tactical drones from just below a ton to a few tons. 100-300km - way outside of range of artillery. And they are all field runway launchable, so you don't really get anything from bombing the airfield. And most of them are made to fly below heights at which any air defence is effective.

ethbr0 5y ago

> To counter them, you will need a very sizeable air force fitted with best radars possible to track them down individually, and strafe with a cannon Or, you know, currently fielded SHORAD systems and CIWS?

baybal2 5y ago
What are their range, and height of radar horizon? Even if that wouldn't be a problem, you will still need really a lot of that.
- ethbr0 5y ago
  On the Phalanx, about 1.5 - 5.5 km? Either self-radar or tied into a broader net. That's current-gen, repurposed from something designed against cruise missiles. Next gen will probably optimize for or supplement with lighter weight projectiles, depending on whether lighter or heavier drones proliferate.

magicsmoke 5y ago

What about their speed and range? If they fly fast they're not going far. If they go far they're slow moving targets. And if they go fast and far they have expensive rockets attached and you're being hit with missiles instead.

baybal2 5y ago
The biggest threat today are tactical drones from just below a ton to a few tons. 100-300km - way outside of range of artillery. And they are all field runway launchable, so you don't really get anything from bombing the airfield. And most of them are made to fly below heights at which any air defence is effective.