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> A million dollar patriot missile to shoot down a cheap drone... I guess it is a good thing then that this isn't something they actually do. They use cheap w
by jandrewrogers 6mo ago
> A million dollar patriot missile to shoot down a cheap drone...
I guess it is a good thing then that this isn't something they actually do.
They use cheap weapons to shoot down cheap drones. Their primary anti-drone missile was developed in the 2010s and costs less than a Shahed.
- bayindirh 6mo agoYet these cheap and effective weapons failed to protect high value targets, esp. radars.
- jandrewrogers 6mo agoThat's a question of deployment, not capability. They've been used widely in the Middle East against drones since the 2010s with considerable success.
- patrickmcnamara 6mo agoWhich system are you talking about?
- jandrewrogers 6mo agoAPKWS. The US took the old Vietnam-era unguided rocket pods (Hydra 70), of which they produce hundreds of thousands every year, and slapped a dirt-cheap guidance kit to the front of each rocket. Supposedly 90-95% effective. A bunch of countries are developing their own clones of the concept. A single F-16 can carry 42 missiles. They've been rapidly expanding the number of platforms they can attach these to.
- greedo 6mo agoYes, APKWS is a good solution, but it really wasn't used much for C-UAS before VAMPIRE was shipped to Ukraine.
- XorNot 6mo agoYes a 99% success rate versus like 600 incoming still means some of them will get through. Which is the same reason no level of military power is going to keep the Strait of Hormuz open (or at least, no level beyond a truly absurd one and even then - see the Kerch bridge in Crimea).
- LorenPechtel 6mo agoIran's stuff is short range. But Orange Dementia didn't even think about that.