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I don't think we've even seen the real potential of drone warfare on the battlefield, yet. Right now their guidance is very crude, little more than the adaptati

I don't think we've even seen the real potential of drone warfare on the battlefield, yet. Right now their guidance is very crude, little more than the adaptation of consumer FPV technology. Once US/RU/CN have had time to develop the technology, build up the manufacturing and logistics, and give them AI automated target selection, it's going to completely change the nature of warfare IMO. Instead of dropping tons of expensive guided bombs and shells, attackers will drop tens of thousands of cheaper small anti-personnel hunter-seeker drones that can not only seek out human targets but wait in low power mode for a target to appear if it can't identify one at first. It'll make most kinds of static installations and defenses untenable. Units will have to constantly be on the move and camouflaged, and avoid giving up all kinds of life signs like sound/gunshots, thermal, RF comms, etc. The smaller drones will be able to help larger drones with targeting any armor they can't handle themselves while acting like free flying land mines. I agree that it's a software problem. The Slaughterbots video [1] is already six years old and all of the pieces to make killer drone swarms were already there (just not as miniaturized as the video). Now there's data in Ukraine about how well individual drones work; AI is getting better and better; the compute is getting cheap enough to just slap on a drone; SOTA single use aluminum air batteries can already enable drones with much longer flight times than consumer batteries. All the pieces are there to make a nightmarish weapon that changes warfare as much as the machine gun, land mine, or air support. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecClODh4zYk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecClODh4zYk

flawsofar 3y ago
And thus begins the serious electromagnetic weapons age
unethical_ban 3y ago
I think/hope civilian organizations get access to this technology or the defensive counterparts before it is banned. Having guns and food and ammo is good, but if civilians want to have a chance against NYPD or (insert dystopian boot) then night vision, drones for surveillance and offense, as well as drone defense are needed. Having offensive drone tech in the hands of domestic law enforcement scares the shit out of me. I think we are one human generation away from the Matrix "Sentinels" being a reality. Swarms of autonomous disposable killer drones.
- oceanplexian 3y ago
  I agree and am a huge advocate for the idea that self defense is a human right. Civilians should have a right to access to the exact same technology that a government employs with its infantry. I'm not talking Nuclear Weapons or Stealth Bombers, if a 17-year-old recruit can be trusted to operate a drone to kill human beings in a far off foreign country, law-abiding citizens should have access to the same technology. Or, alternatively, we can ban the technology, as long as the police are restricted from using it the same as civilians.
  - lm28469 3y ago
    So rocket launchers, grenades, and all kind of explosives, anti air weapons that can destroy any flying machine from 10+km away Yeah sure that sounds absolutely sane....
    - unethical_ban 3y ago
      Citizens should be no less armed than domestic law enforcement. I'm not aware of cops having rocket launchers, but maybe they shouldn't.
    - oceanplexian 3y ago
      Yes, at least with the right guardrails. The fact that my law abiding neighbor can own a grenade launcher (You actually can legally own a Grenade Launcher with the right paperwork) wouldn’t bother me any more than an aggressive SWAT cop doing a pre-dawn raid on someone’s house. If you want to own anti aircraft weapons sure, maybe with a license and a background check. If spending a few million $$$ to explode things in the desert is your jam you should be able to do it. Maybe you could even open source it and help develop better weapons for people in Ukraine or whatever.
082349872349872 3y ago
> attackers will drop From what will they be dropping them?
- throwup238 3y ago
  I assume US/RU/CN/etc will drop them from stealth and supersonic bombers. Everyone else will use basic bombers and cargo planes if they can punch a hole in AA defenses and if they cant, release them from 20ft shipping containers or box trucks as close to enemy lines as possible. They’re also small enough to deploy with infantry.
- PeterisP 3y ago
  You could probably fire them with special artillery shells, just as deploying remote minefields or cluster munitions.

flawsofar 3y ago

And thus begins the serious electromagnetic weapons age

unethical_ban 3y ago

I think/hope civilian organizations get access to this technology or the defensive counterparts before it is banned. Having guns and food and ammo is good, but if civilians want to have a chance against NYPD or (insert dystopian boot) then night vision, drones for surveillance and offense, as well as drone defense are needed. Having offensive drone tech in the hands of domestic law enforcement scares the shit out of me. I think we are one human generation away from the Matrix "Sentinels" being a reality. Swarms of autonomous disposable killer drones.

oceanplexian 3y ago
I agree and am a huge advocate for the idea that self defense is a human right. Civilians should have a right to access to the exact same technology that a government employs with its infantry. I'm not talking Nuclear Weapons or Stealth Bombers, if a 17-year-old recruit can be trusted to operate a drone to kill human beings in a far off foreign country, law-abiding citizens should have access to the same technology. Or, alternatively, we can ban the technology, as long as the police are restricted from using it the same as civilians.
- lm28469 3y ago
  So rocket launchers, grenades, and all kind of explosives, anti air weapons that can destroy any flying machine from 10+km away Yeah sure that sounds absolutely sane....
  - unethical_ban 3y ago
    Citizens should be no less armed than domestic law enforcement. I'm not aware of cops having rocket launchers, but maybe they shouldn't.
  - oceanplexian 3y ago
    Yes, at least with the right guardrails. The fact that my law abiding neighbor can own a grenade launcher (You actually can legally own a Grenade Launcher with the right paperwork) wouldn’t bother me any more than an aggressive SWAT cop doing a pre-dawn raid on someone’s house. If you want to own anti aircraft weapons sure, maybe with a license and a background check. If spending a few million $$$ to explode things in the desert is your jam you should be able to do it. Maybe you could even open source it and help develop better weapons for people in Ukraine or whatever.

082349872349872 3y ago

> attackers will drop From what will they be dropping them?

throwup238 3y ago
I assume US/RU/CN/etc will drop them from stealth and supersonic bombers. Everyone else will use basic bombers and cargo planes if they can punch a hole in AA defenses and if they cant, release them from 20ft shipping containers or box trucks as close to enemy lines as possible. They’re also small enough to deploy with infantry.
PeterisP 3y ago
You could probably fire them with special artillery shells, just as deploying remote minefields or cluster munitions.