3 ms·

I think the thing that surprises me here is the composite panel. I suppose that from the PoV of the Iranians this is a high-tech weapon the performance of whic

I think the thing that surprises me here is the composite panel. I suppose that from the PoV of the Iranians this is a high-tech weapon the performance of which is optimised, whereas I perceived it as a kind of saturation weapon, one which I expected to be made of plywood.

constantcrying 2y ago
These drones are designed for long range saturation attacks. I think the choice of composites is quite reasonable. Plywood means sacrificing range and decreasing reliability.
- impossiblefork 2y ago
  Yes, but it'd be cheap, and you could increase the amount of fuel to compensate, and fuel is also cheap. Plywood would also allow much higher production rates, whereas this is clearly fiddly work with people stuffing prepregs into moulds.
  - constantcrying 2y ago
    To be honest I think it is hard to judge. I definitely think the manufacturer sees this as a disposable saturation weapon and I don't believe the choice for composites would have been made lightly. As far as tanks go I would guess that already most of the interior is taken up by tanks and using plywood would only reduce the potential range. I have two additional considerations: Durability and manufacturing process. Shaping plywood means machining, granted it isn't the most high precision process, but mould construction might also be more feasible if labor is cheap, but usable machinery is difficult to obtain in quantity.
    - impossiblefork 2y ago
      Yes, and I suppose my mistake might to think that that something is a saturation weapon necessarily, or disposable, necessarily conflicts with it being something other than a weapon designed for mass-scale minimum-cost production. I suppose this is Iran's equivalent of Tomahawk. Plywood can also be bent with heat. There's a thing called a 'high frequency plywood bending press'. But these thin parts probably make more sense if they're made of fibre-reinforced plastic. I don't think consequences on range would be so bad, but what really matters is probably cycle rates and cost.

constantcrying 2y ago

These drones are designed for long range saturation attacks. I think the choice of composites is quite reasonable. Plywood means sacrificing range and decreasing reliability.

impossiblefork 2y ago
Yes, but it'd be cheap, and you could increase the amount of fuel to compensate, and fuel is also cheap. Plywood would also allow much higher production rates, whereas this is clearly fiddly work with people stuffing prepregs into moulds.
- constantcrying 2y ago
  To be honest I think it is hard to judge. I definitely think the manufacturer sees this as a disposable saturation weapon and I don't believe the choice for composites would have been made lightly. As far as tanks go I would guess that already most of the interior is taken up by tanks and using plywood would only reduce the potential range. I have two additional considerations: Durability and manufacturing process. Shaping plywood means machining, granted it isn't the most high precision process, but mould construction might also be more feasible if labor is cheap, but usable machinery is difficult to obtain in quantity.
  - impossiblefork 2y ago
    Yes, and I suppose my mistake might to think that that something is a saturation weapon necessarily, or disposable, necessarily conflicts with it being something other than a weapon designed for mass-scale minimum-cost production. I suppose this is Iran's equivalent of Tomahawk. Plywood can also be bent with heat. There's a thing called a 'high frequency plywood bending press'. But these thin parts probably make more sense if they're made of fibre-reinforced plastic. I don't think consequences on range would be so bad, but what really matters is probably cycle rates and cost.