91–100 of 188 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you're fighting an opponent whose drones can only handle 40 mph winds, you might try to do as much combat at 50 mph as possible.
How many actual historical battles or skirmishes have been fought in gale force winds?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you're fighting an opponent whose drones can only handle 40 mph winds, you might try to do as much combat at 50 mph as possible.
How many actual historical battles or skirmishes have been fought in gale force winds?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Harder to do at range. I'm glad I'm not the Secret Service. A drone swarm has to be rapidly becoming one of their scary scenarios for something like inaugurations.
A single medium-caliber mortar is a five-hundred-year-old piece of technology that can be carried and assembled by two men, has an effective range of ~1,000 to 5,000 yards, does not require line of sight to the target, can be operated by a high-school dropout, and has a kill radius of 30 meters . One can probably be picked up from an army surplus warehouse somewhere in the former Soviet Union/(some current conflict z…
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?search=IRA+%22mortar+at...
Amongst other things, shooting down a helicopter, and having a go, separately, at the queen and the prime minister.
There is for sure money to be made for any (ABCA based) company to sell minorly tweaked clones of popular consumer drones.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, these are the kind of modern aids I mentioned. You're still likely to miss your first one. Mortar is not a precision weapon, it's a Monte Carlo prop.
Does it need to be a precision weapon to be a weapon of terror? And with a kill zone of 20-30 meters... you can miss by quite a lot and still do a ton of damage.
Mortar attacks for this are not unprecedented†, but are not terribly effective.
[†] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downing_Street_mortar_attack#T...
Two thought triggered by this article. 1: What alternative designs for quadcopter would be viable for small drones? Some lighter-than-air quality? I assume the complexity involved in making a helicopter collective would be too heavy. Is it really quadcopters all the way down? 2: Why not smaller? Would an even smaller drone be unfeasible due to battery weight and square/cube law issues? What's stopping us from gram-sc…
Interesting idea to fill a drone with helium, then presumably it could have smaller motors or longer flight time.
Two thought triggered by this article. 1: What alternative designs for quadcopter would be viable for small drones? Some lighter-than-air quality? I assume the complexity involved in making a helicopter collective would be too heavy. Is it really quadcopters all the way down? 2: Why not smaller? Would an even smaller drone be unfeasible due to battery weight and square/cube law issues? What's stopping us from gram-sc…
This would somewhat alleviate the energy expenditure to maintain lift and prolong the flight time. The motors may selectively cut off based on present state of inertia. This may be all possible due to relatively small weight of such drones. Sure this would preclude operation in storm winds.
It's a question of mission requirements. Drones of these sizes are more like a floating/hidden eye/ear than anything of direct offense. Besides, it does not need to transmit at all, just record and deliver back on homing beacon.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Does it need to be a precision weapon to be a weapon of terror? And with a kill zone of 20-30 meters... you can miss by quite a lot and still do a ton of damage.
Sure, but in the context of assassinating the VIP it does. Mortar attacks for this are not unprecedented†, but are not terribly effective. [†] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downing_Street_mortar_attack#T...
But, for inflicting terror and great loss of life in a populated area - they could be used very effectively.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I haven't looked into this drone in depth, but I think it may be feasible. The DJI Mini2, which any civilian can buy for $449, has a similar size, weighs 249g, and advertises a flight time of 30 minutes. (In my experience with the Mini 1, it's plausible). Side note: the DJI Mini 1 is an excellent drone -- stable flight, great camera, and great range. I wouldn't be surprised if it outperforms this 'Bug' drone by most…
It's hard to express how awesome the Mini is. IMO it's an underappreciated technological achievement at the once-in-a-hundred-years level. Only a few years ago, it was hard to get a decent digital camera for $400 and change. The Mini is a decent camera that also happens to fly. When that realization hit me, it reminded me of the first time I saw a $29 DVD player for sale at WalMart. Some incredible things had to happ…
That may be a little high. UAVTek's site says they beat the FLIR Black Hornet 3 bid[1]. Estimates based on US Army budget requests say the Black Hornet 3 is coming in between $15k and $16k per unit[2]. Probably still 5 figures though.
[1] https://uavtek.co.uk/news/uk-mod-acquire-latest-nano-drone-t...
[2] https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/26359/the-pocket-sized...
Is it just me, or does the pictured drone shell look 3d printed? There is for sure money to be made for any (ABCA based) company to sell minorly tweaked clones of popular consumer drones.