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"Shot down" with what? Surface-to-air missiles? Duck hunters with shotguns? Attack helicopters with miniguns? Whatever you spray into the sky (to knock a dr

"Shot down" with what? Surface-to-air missiles? Duck hunters with shotguns? Attack helicopters with miniguns? Whatever you spray into the sky (to knock a drone out of it) will also fall back to earth, plausibly generating civilian casualties on the ground. (And if you use lasers - high power laser beams have plenty of safety issues, too.)

potato3732842 2y ago
If Ukraine is any indication you shoot them down with other drones.
- gowld 2y ago
  No one in Ukraine is in the habit of shooting down commercial airliners and helicopters, though.
  - wood_spirit 2y ago
    No they used Buk missiles instead.
    - bananapub 2y ago
      where they = the Russian military or Russian-military aligned terrorist groups.
- bell-cot 2y ago
  Ukraine's capabilities in that domain are plausibly far more advanced that America's. Also - costs, casualties, & collateral damage may be far more acceptable in an active war zone, and against drones which are busy killing people & destroying valuables whenever they are not shot down.
  - TheOtherHobbes 2y ago
    Ukraine's capabilities mostly consist of ramming a cheap drone into an expensive one. This is one of those times when the US has a Maginot Military - massively overpowered against traditional threats, inexperienced when dealing with something like this. This is not a trivial problem. A cheap drone with a relatively small explosive payload flown into an air intake can take down a military aircraft and cause serious problems for an airliner or private jet. An airfield is the ideal place to do that, because aircraft are most vulnerable during takeoff and landing. A few people and a hundred drones launched from a few km away can significantly delay incoming and outgoing flights. Equip the drones with weapons - or larger explosives - and it's potentially Pearl Harbour.
    - potato3732842 2y ago
      That's kind of reductive. I know some people who have, uh, relevant experience. The cheap drones are pretty comprehensively engineered and they're complex in the same way that a ballpoint pen is not as trivial to manufacture as it looks. But yeah, Maginot Military sounds about right.
      - ponector 2y ago
        But they engage only big drones. Like reconnaissance Orlan or Zala, maybe lancet. No one is shooting down fpv quadcopters, not yet.
        coretx 2y ago
        Shotguns are being used for that purpose. Single buckshot from the top of a AR barrel are in vogue too. Someone should use a cheap arduino and a mike for aiming and shooting at fpv quadcopters. I really don't understand why that's not here yet. They can literally convert a toy from github.
        potato3732842 2y ago
        They are "being used" but shotguns are the last line of defense. Good luck stopping a little FPV drone with one. If you do not disable it by 50ft you dead. And you have like 10% odds. Way better than 1% odds you might have with a rifle or nothing but... Jamming is first line of defense, a million times more effective FWIW.
antonvs 2y ago
> Duck hunters with shotguns? Duck Dynasty season 12 is going to be a doozy

potato3732842 2y ago

If Ukraine is any indication you shoot them down with other drones.

gowld 2y ago
No one in Ukraine is in the habit of shooting down commercial airliners and helicopters, though.
- wood_spirit 2y ago
  No they used Buk missiles instead.
  - bananapub 2y ago
    where they = the Russian military or Russian-military aligned terrorist groups.
bell-cot 2y ago
Ukraine's capabilities in that domain are plausibly far more advanced that America's. Also - costs, casualties, & collateral damage may be far more acceptable in an active war zone, and against drones which are busy killing people & destroying valuables whenever they are not shot down.
- TheOtherHobbes 2y ago
  Ukraine's capabilities mostly consist of ramming a cheap drone into an expensive one. This is one of those times when the US has a Maginot Military - massively overpowered against traditional threats, inexperienced when dealing with something like this. This is not a trivial problem. A cheap drone with a relatively small explosive payload flown into an air intake can take down a military aircraft and cause serious problems for an airliner or private jet. An airfield is the ideal place to do that, because aircraft are most vulnerable during takeoff and landing. A few people and a hundred drones launched from a few km away can significantly delay incoming and outgoing flights. Equip the drones with weapons - or larger explosives - and it's potentially Pearl Harbour.
  - potato3732842 2y ago
    That's kind of reductive. I know some people who have, uh, relevant experience. The cheap drones are pretty comprehensively engineered and they're complex in the same way that a ballpoint pen is not as trivial to manufacture as it looks. But yeah, Maginot Military sounds about right.
    - ponector 2y ago
      But they engage only big drones. Like reconnaissance Orlan or Zala, maybe lancet. No one is shooting down fpv quadcopters, not yet.
      - coretx 2y ago
        Shotguns are being used for that purpose. Single buckshot from the top of a AR barrel are in vogue too. Someone should use a cheap arduino and a mike for aiming and shooting at fpv quadcopters. I really don't understand why that's not here yet. They can literally convert a toy from github.
        potato3732842 2y ago
        They are "being used" but shotguns are the last line of defense. Good luck stopping a little FPV drone with one. If you do not disable it by 50ft you dead. And you have like 10% odds. Way better than 1% odds you might have with a rifle or nothing but... Jamming is first line of defense, a million times more effective FWIW.

antonvs 2y ago

> Duck hunters with shotguns? Duck Dynasty season 12 is going to be a doozy