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I see it very differently: - Ukraine's drones capabilities were built internally using consumer grade hardware - US tried to supply some cutting edge military

I see it very differently: - Ukraine's drones capabilities were built internally using consumer grade hardware - US tried to supply some cutting edge military grade drones(switchblade 300/600), but there is no much reports about them, and program has been canceled since then, I speculate those drones were having significant issues My suspicion is that US small combat drones programs are weak and ineffective.

dragonwriter 3y ago
> US tried to supply some cutting edge military grade drones(switchblade 300/600) “Tried”? > but there is no much reports about them, There are lots of reports about them. > and program has been canceled since then US acquisition of the anti-personnel Switchblade 300 was cancelled recently, the anti-armor 600 was stepped up, both for deliveries to Ukraine and for deployment with US forces on a wide scale. And, yes, the cancellation seems largely due to experience in Ukraine and the superiority of cheaper, adapted-from-consumer-models drones for anti-personnel use, but its important to note that's not an absence of combat experience—the 300 was rush developed and deployed to combat in Afghanistan in the early 2010s, and used extrnsively there. This is just the learning that happens with different approaches guided by different constraints finding different solutions.
- riku_iki 3y ago
  > There are lots of reports about them. I am kinda following this topic, and have seen maybe 2. > the anti-armor 600 was stepped up my reading of the news is that army ordered 100 units for testing but the point is that despite claims of decades of intensive research, etc, US's only visible program is some small third party company with questionable quality, no other projects are visible, while other players (Israel with spike nlos, Russia with lancet, Iran with shahed) have several gens of battle proven tech already.

dragonwriter 3y ago

> US tried to supply some cutting edge military grade drones(switchblade 300/600) “Tried”? > but there is no much reports about them, There are lots of reports about them. > and program has been canceled since then US acquisition of the anti-personnel Switchblade 300 was cancelled recently, the anti-armor 600 was stepped up, both for deliveries to Ukraine and for deployment with US forces on a wide scale. And, yes, the cancellation seems largely due to experience in Ukraine and the superiority of cheaper, adapted-from-consumer-models drones for anti-personnel use, but its important to note that's not an absence of combat experience—the 300 was rush developed and deployed to combat in Afghanistan in the early 2010s, and used extrnsively there. This is just the learning that happens with different approaches guided by different constraints finding different solutions.

riku_iki 3y ago
> There are lots of reports about them. I am kinda following this topic, and have seen maybe 2. > the anti-armor 600 was stepped up my reading of the news is that army ordered 100 units for testing but the point is that despite claims of decades of intensive research, etc, US's only visible program is some small third party company with questionable quality, no other projects are visible, while other players (Israel with spike nlos, Russia with lancet, Iran with shahed) have several gens of battle proven tech already.