4 ms·

I think there are enough limitations with the current tech that this isn't a big concern at the moment, otherwise we would certainly be seeing these types attac

by rurp 3y ago

I think there are enough limitations with the current tech that this isn't a big concern at the moment, otherwise we would certainly be seeing these types attacks in Ukraine. But the field is evolving incredibly quickly and it's possible this becomes viable in the future. Some current drawbacks I can think of: * Small drones carrying a load generally have a short range, which could make launching such an attack (and surviving the response) difficult. * Coordination is hard. Manually controlled drone frequencies can conflict. There have been some automated sky displays that went well, but attacking a busy hardened target is much more difficult and I don't think the autonomous software is good enough yet. * Cost in terms of money, time, and risk. Jerry-rigging drones with improvised explosives is time consuming and dangerous, plus 100 drones cost money. * Jamming can protect a specific area from drones

RandallBrown 3y ago
I think the coordination problem is pretty much solved. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbCR8mOPkuo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbCR8mOPkuo
petsfed 3y ago
>Small drones carrying a load generally have a short range, which could make launching such an attack (and surviving the response) difficult. I understand why such things are relatively rare, but its always sort of a wonder to me that fixed wing or tilt-rotor drones are not commonly suggested for deliveries of this kind. Obviously the flight plan is necessarily more complex when you have to have take-off and landing phases with horizontal components (which requires more pilot training), and the mechanical complexity of a tilt-rotor affair is substantial, but it seems like significantly improving the range could be a significant win. Are the training and design challenges the limiting factor? Is the maneuverability trade-off too much? Anybody working in this space able to comment?
- btbuildem 3y ago
  Honestly, I think it's about the immediate availability, and hackability of the tech. The Ukrainian (army? partisans?) had to respond incredibly quickly to overwhelming force. Off the shelf DJI quadcopters that just happen to have a light control that could be hacked into a release switch + some 3D-printed parts for said switch and fins to convert mortar shells / hand grenades into droppable bombs -- that's one hell of a trial-by-fire hackathon, grab what you can access and convert it into what you need.
- saidinesh5 3y ago
  Control signal wise, you can go for 100+ km on hobby grade batteries and a simple fixed wing: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CYJ2UOrlXgM https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CYJ2UOrlXgM The set up would probably cost you around 500 USD: $50 for the frame, $150 for the electronics (gps + fc + 2 motors + 2 servos), $50 for a basic analog fpv system, the rest for the batteries. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RabFZzRyZo8 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RabFZzRyZo8 makes some interesting vtol experiments and his code is mostly open source, on GitHub.
jiggawatts 3y ago
All of these are solved or solvable problems and aren’t impediments in practice. For comparison: a single unguided artillery shell costs $5,000. A guided shell starts at around $20K and fancy long-range versions can exceed $100K. It takes on average 2-15 shells per kill. If you had a > $100K budget “per attack” and were making drones in large volume production, then you can easily beat the costs of traditional weapons. Drones are cheap and can deliver their payloads with incredible precision. Not “150 foot radius accuracy”, but “aim of the left foot of the soldier” accuracy. It’s a whole new ball game.

by rurp 3y ago

RandallBrown 3y ago

I think the coordination problem is pretty much solved. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbCR8mOPkuo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbCR8mOPkuo

petsfed 3y ago

>Small drones carrying a load generally have a short range, which could make launching such an attack (and surviving the response) difficult. I understand why such things are relatively rare, but its always sort of a wonder to me that fixed wing or tilt-rotor drones are not commonly suggested for deliveries of this kind. Obviously the flight plan is necessarily more complex when you have to have take-off and landing phases with horizontal components (which requires more pilot training), and the mechanical complexity of a tilt-rotor affair is substantial, but it seems like significantly improving the range could be a significant win. Are the training and design challenges the limiting factor? Is the maneuverability trade-off too much? Anybody working in this space able to comment?

btbuildem 3y ago
Honestly, I think it's about the immediate availability, and hackability of the tech. The Ukrainian (army? partisans?) had to respond incredibly quickly to overwhelming force. Off the shelf DJI quadcopters that just happen to have a light control that could be hacked into a release switch + some 3D-printed parts for said switch and fins to convert mortar shells / hand grenades into droppable bombs -- that's one hell of a trial-by-fire hackathon, grab what you can access and convert it into what you need.
saidinesh5 3y ago
Control signal wise, you can go for 100+ km on hobby grade batteries and a simple fixed wing: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CYJ2UOrlXgM https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CYJ2UOrlXgM The set up would probably cost you around 500 USD: $50 for the frame, $150 for the electronics (gps + fc + 2 motors + 2 servos), $50 for a basic analog fpv system, the rest for the batteries. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RabFZzRyZo8 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RabFZzRyZo8 makes some interesting vtol experiments and his code is mostly open source, on GitHub.

jiggawatts 3y ago

All of these are solved or solvable problems and aren’t impediments in practice. For comparison: a single unguided artillery shell costs $5,000. A guided shell starts at around $20K and fancy long-range versions can exceed $100K. It takes on average 2-15 shells per kill. If you had a > $100K budget “per attack” and were making drones in large volume production, then you can easily beat the costs of traditional weapons. Drones are cheap and can deliver their payloads with incredible precision. Not “150 foot radius accuracy”, but “aim of the left foot of the soldier” accuracy. It’s a whole new ball game.