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Mighty Russian 80s aircraft heroically damaged a US unmanned, pretty much disposable drone. Didn't have the balls, or ammo, to shoot at it, mind you, just flew

Mighty Russian 80s aircraft heroically damaged a US unmanned, pretty much disposable drone. Didn't have the balls, or ammo, to shoot at it, mind you, just flew very close. I suppose for lack of actual military success in Ukraine, this makes for some headline.

dragonwriter 4y ago
> Mighty Russian 80s aircraft heroically damaged a US unmanned, pretty much disposable drone. While its more disposable than a manned fighter (because not risking a pilot), its not really anywhere close to disposable. The MQ-9 costs roughly the same as an F-16.
- ianburrell 4y ago
  The MQ-9 costs roughly the same as Su-27.
  - rich_sasha 4y ago
    Interesting thread. Are these marginal costs? Or with R&D amortisation?
    - ianburrell 4y ago
      For MQ-9, the $30 million is current unit costs. It has gotten more expensive over time, the early ones were $18 million. I found places that listed $30 to 47 million for Su-27. No sources or years for the estimate. But it is comparable to similar planes of same vintage. The latter is probably closer to current export price.
      - ghostwriter 4y ago
        Unit Cost: $56.5 million (includes four aircraft with sensors, ground control station and Predator Primary satellite link) (fiscal 2011 dollars) (Current as of March 2021) [1] [1] https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104470/mq-9-reaper/ https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/1044...
        defrost 4y ago
        Interesting detail about military costs though; Is that "having the unit" cost or is it "broken unit replacement cost" ? Per "unit" (for some value of "unit") costs frequently include the averaged out development and daily support costs which are not insignificant. Eg: as a silly extreme example, a unit broom cost might include three thousand years of prior art broom development along with the costs of having a ten man team dedicated to being available 24/7/365 to use the broom along with a wood working and paint shop to maintain and oil the broom. This is somewhat higher than the actual cost of replacing a snapped single broom.
        ianburrell 4y ago
        That is $14 million per unit in 2011 or $18 million today dollars. I found procurement for 2021-2022 for $34 to 37 million.

dragonwriter 4y ago

> Mighty Russian 80s aircraft heroically damaged a US unmanned, pretty much disposable drone. While its more disposable than a manned fighter (because not risking a pilot), its not really anywhere close to disposable. The MQ-9 costs roughly the same as an F-16.

ianburrell 4y ago
The MQ-9 costs roughly the same as Su-27.
- rich_sasha 4y ago
  Interesting thread. Are these marginal costs? Or with R&D amortisation?
  - ianburrell 4y ago
    For MQ-9, the $30 million is current unit costs. It has gotten more expensive over time, the early ones were $18 million. I found places that listed $30 to 47 million for Su-27. No sources or years for the estimate. But it is comparable to similar planes of same vintage. The latter is probably closer to current export price.
    - ghostwriter 4y ago
      Unit Cost: $56.5 million (includes four aircraft with sensors, ground control station and Predator Primary satellite link) (fiscal 2011 dollars) (Current as of March 2021) [1] [1] https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104470/mq-9-reaper/ https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/1044...
      - defrost 4y ago
        Interesting detail about military costs though; Is that "having the unit" cost or is it "broken unit replacement cost" ? Per "unit" (for some value of "unit") costs frequently include the averaged out development and daily support costs which are not insignificant. Eg: as a silly extreme example, a unit broom cost might include three thousand years of prior art broom development along with the costs of having a ten man team dedicated to being available 24/7/365 to use the broom along with a wood working and paint shop to maintain and oil the broom. This is somewhat higher than the actual cost of replacing a snapped single broom.
      - ianburrell 4y ago
        That is $14 million per unit in 2011 or $18 million today dollars. I found procurement for 2021-2022 for $34 to 37 million.