7 ms·
I would expect Ukraine could learn how to produce their own in a couple of weeks. Have patterns and a press to cut out the pieces and mass produce them. The eff
by asimpleusecase 3y ago
I would expect Ukraine could learn how to produce their own in a couple of weeks. Have patterns and a press to cut out the pieces and mass produce them. The effect of thousands of these would be similar to massive volleys of arrows in medevil battle, only in this case each has targeting and 5kg warhead
- _joel 3y agoThe Ukranian drone industry has rocketed (no pun intended) since the invasion. I'd highly recommend checking out this video[1] from the FT on the tech industry that has popped up around this, inside Ukraine itself. Just such a travesty that they need to do this at all. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voPCPhzmL10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voPCPhzmL10
- jacquesm 3y agoThe kind of know-how they are building up there is making them a force to be reckoned with, it is one of those if-it-doesn't-kill-you-it-will-make-you-stronger things. Obviously Russia can do anything that Ukraine can do but Ukraine has a very large and wealthy contingent of the world behind them and they are motivated far beyond the Russians. I really hope they will be able to force some kind of breakthrough to the point that even Putin realizes that giving up is the better outcome.
- thriftwy 3y agoRussians are motivated by the fact that several million holders of Russian citizenship are living in the area that Ukraine is set to reconquer. Most of whose did not live under Ukrainian control for a decade now.
- jncfhnb 3y agoRussia doesn’t give a shit about those people.
- tjrgergw 3y agoYes, if there's anything we've learned from this war is how motivated Russians are /s
- jacquesm 3y agoThey are free to move back to where they came from and if they lived there before they are equally free to stay. Those who did not live under Ukrainian control have lived under occupation.
- thriftwy 3y agoMaybe that prospect is good enough for you. For all of it, you do not care about any consequences, as you did not care about the fate of ethnic Serbs in Kosovo. Russians understand what's going on here and are motivated to not let that happen. At the moment they are successful.
- jacquesm 3y ago> Russians understand what's going on here That's just funny. Seriously, I can't tell if you're trolling or serious but on the off chance that you are serious: you're so misinformed it is tragic, at the same time you are apparently able to fix that and refuse to do so. Which makes me wonder why. I have enough contacts in former USSR countries and inside Russia itself to know that this sentiment is prevalent, wilful misunderstanding as some kind of defense mechanism. But in the modern day with ample access to information you really have no excuse. Serbia will have to come to terms with the degree to which Russia has been using them at some point. This probably won't happen until Russia itself has gone through an enlightenment and shaken of the current crop of mobsters. I'm not holding my breath for that one.
- thesmok 3y agoRussian citizenship is not something that people cherish or want. Most of the Russian territory and population has been occupied at some point: Siberia long time ago, Caucasus in the past centuries, Crimea in 2014. Russians don't care about those people the same way the care about their own.
- thriftwy 3y ago4 out of 5 Russian citizens are ethnic Russians, and those are prevalent in Siberia, in Russian Far East, in Crimea and (arguably) in the "new territories" also. Russian citizenship is a prized asset in the post-USSR countries to the extent that people spend effort to move to Russian Federation and pay money to engage in shady schemes to obtain it.
- tyingq 3y agoLooking at it, I'm also curious if you could substitute corrugated plastic, like Coroplast. They have products that match the weight/size profiles of typical cardboard.
- jacquesm 3y agoThat would work but: more expensive, slightly harder to work. As long as it doesn't get wet cardboard would be the better option though, and depending on the availability it might be the only option.
- FreshStart 3y agoCardboard can be easily plastic coated. Foilwrapped
- jacquesm 3y agoProbably a quick coat of spray paint on a finished model would already give it better water resistant properties without adding a lot of weight. It isn't going to help against immersion or catching a downpour but it will help to hold it together just a bit longer.
- soligern 3y agoYeah but where are the Ukrainians going to get the electronic components? I’m sure some pieces of cardboard are not the limiting factor here.
- Teever 3y agodigikey, mouser, aliexpress, amazon, banggood, ebay?
- KeplerBoy 3y agoFrom their western allies, unlike russia who is limited to shady deals with iran, india and china.
- tenpies 3y agoFWIW the level of transparency between those "shady deals" is probably identical to presumably "not shady deals" of NATO. I mean the US Democrats voted down even the mere notion that maybe the most surface-level audit of US aid to Ukraine could be allowed[1]. [1]https://theintercept.com/2023/08/02/ukraine-aid-special-inspector-afghanistan/ https://theintercept.com/2023/08/02/ukraine-aid-special-insp...
- ChumpGPT 3y agoIt's already audited at several levels so it was voted down because it was a case of the Republicans wanting to add another layer. For the record almost all Republicans favor helping Ukraine just like the Democrats. What we are witnessing is Politics with Ukraine caught in the middle. Zelensky is putting a vote in front of the government that classifies any corruption as treason against the Nation and a minimum of 15 years in Prison with all assets seized.
- saiya-jin 3y ago> almost all Republicans favor helping Ukraine just like the Democrats That's a bit overstatement, no? I mean we have Trump who is very visibly admirer of Putin and his practices and various other dictatorial murderers like MBL and strongly supports current apartheid in Israel, no change there since invasion. If he wins the next elections, which seems more and more probable, Ukraine is going to lose all western support overnight with corresponding results for war. I don't get it at all, republicans should be as anti-russian as possible historically since current russia is much more Soviet russia rather than anything else, but they keep voting for him and he was very clear on the topic in the past. That says more about real opinions of republicans rather than anything else. Or am I missing something as an US outsider?
- gattr 3y agoThe logical conclusion (maybe in quite a near future) will be something like the space opera engagements in Honorverse ([1]). TL;DR: space battles involve fighting typically beyond the ship's main directed-energy armaments' range. Instead, massive (hundreds, thousands and more) missile salvos are exchanged. Due to the quirks of how their propulsion works, missiles are easy to track and target with counter-missiles and point-defense lasers... but launch enough of them (laced generously with EW platforms and decoys) and the enemy task force's systems become overwhelmed. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honorverse https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honorverse
- andix 3y agoIf it's that easy, the Russians can do that too. They are not cave people. Although such drones might be much more useful for the Ukrainians.
- dredmorbius 3y agoIf drones are widespread in Ukraine, they're overwhelmingly likely to be used against Russian aggressor targets. If drones are widespread within Russia ... that logic might not hold so well. A blade cuts two ways, and much of that is at the initiative of the wielder.
- jacquesm 3y agoSure, but the Russians can move them into the war zone through their supply route almost as easy as the Ukrainians can, that isn't a huge advantage. What is an advantage is that the Russian supply lines are somewhat vulnerable and that Ukrainians don't have to work around any sanctions. Let's be happy the Germans didn't have access to any of this tech in the middle of WWII, their V weapons were bad enough as it was.
- dredmorbius 3y agoUkraine's supply lines and staging areas are largely Nato nations and resources. Direct attacks on them would trigger Article 5. This is one case where asymmetric advantages favour Ukraine over Russia. As to general availability: I'm presuming individuals or non-governmental entities would have access to the technology. Again, in Ukraine there seems to be far greater alignment against a common enemy, as illustrated by Russia's failure to avert open rebellion within its own allied forces, and apparent organic resistance and sabotage withing Russia and Belarus against Russian forces and logistics infrastructure.
- jacquesm 3y agoAbsolutely, absent the - ridiculous - propaganda it is clear who is driving the war from the Russian side, the Ukrainians don't really have a choice: fight back or be wiped out. Everybody has seen what Grozny looked like and what has already been done to some Ukrainian cities.
- jncfhnb 3y agoSmall drones are generally individually piloted. You can find plenty of footage of them trying to take out individual vehicles or troops. Generally pretty successful. But a volley of explosives they are not. If that’s all you want, it’s still much cheaper to use artillery. Which both sides are fond of