191–200 of 275 posts
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Conversely, shielding electronics against EMPs is surprisingly easy. Just wrapping things in aluminium foil goes a long way.
Doesn't this also mean that they would not be able to receive comms?
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Doesn't this also mean that they would not be able to receive comms?
Comms can also be laser, and the drones can be pre-programmed and self guiding. Though in either case, you can still always dazzle either the sensors or the comms (MEMS sensors used for inertial guidance are vulnerable to ultrasound IIRC). And I’m sure the military either have or are developing an anti-drone-drone.
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Turns out humans are actually really great at controlling ridiculously fast aircraft, the drone races are controlled by a person looking through a camera pointed forward on the drone. You can think of it like speedrunning an N64 game, finding the timing that lets you act instead of react. But +1 humanity’s fucked, don’t Google Slaughterbots but maybe Google how to build an EMP, it’s easier than you think.
>maybe Google how to build an EMP Sounds like a good way to get on a list.
Example: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002077843786.html
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Assuming that the story is true, the thing that rules out a traditional quadcopter is the fact that it was flying for an hour. You can make quads fast or long range/endurance, but AFAIK, nobody is even close to making a quad that can do 100mph for an hour. The battery weight for that kind of flight time would be too heavy for the quad to fly.
I wouldn't say it is impossible. A (relatively) simple solution would be to use something with more dense power source, maybe fuel. RC enthusiast use fueled engines routinely, it isn't something special. There are various types of advanced fueled engines for RC use from traditional 2-4 stroke miniaturized engines to turbofans. They are not very common on small quadcopters because of lack of response. Quadcopters depe…
There are also non-hybrid quads, but again, none of them can deliver the performance observed by these pilots: https://www.mydronelab.com/blog/gas-powered-quadcopter.html
I said in another comment that my bet is on an RC plane. A fixed wing is much more likely to achieve that kind of speed with the endurance. Considering that the pilots didn't provide a good visual description I think it's the safest bet. I'm not going to worry about how it might be possible to make a quad that can do this when an obviously feasible solution is staring us in the face.
There's a lot of interesting material in the ATC recording. - Helo pilots felt that it was intentionally staying nearby as it came very close on multiple occasions and did not seem to be trying to evade. They had visual contact most of the time but sometimes had a hard time tracking it against the city lights. - Pilots initially describe it as a quadcopter but become skeptical of that due to the performance. No one e…
> I would have to imagine it was larger than a quadcopter, and I guarantee you it was nothing like a quadcopter from how long it was up - it has to be satellite-driven because there’s no line-of-sight, there’s no cell phone coverage that could have dealt with that, so it has to be satellite-driven, which is pretty freakin’ sophisticated.” So, setting aside this claim that there’s no line of sight, my bet is these guy…
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Their carry weight is absolute shit and ferrying over 10 doses isn't really worthwhile
There is this confusion over the word “drone”. What you say is absolutely true about quadrocopters and octocopters. It is much less true about fixed wing drones. You don’t have to go all the way to a Global Hawk to get reasonable carrying capacity. Even hobby sized stuff could be used for this reasonably well. Parts are easy to acquire, they are easy to conceal, you can launch them with a catapult like setup, they ca…
This had me thinking about homemade disposable rockets. Either use them for cargo, or attach one to a strong enough glider, so that it can reach the desired area, release the glider (that can use maps + GPS and sensors to land safely) then proceed for a while fooling whoever would follow its heat trail.
Not that I wanted to become a drug smuggler, just brainstorming. We will need all that stuff when the next reptilian invasion occurs:^)
"There's no line of sight...it must be satellite controlled." Oh FFS. There's a lot of real estate on the ground where an operator could have been sitting and flying the thing with a high-powered FPV rig. FPV systems don't require satellites, and you can put a basic one together for less than $1000.
I don't think that's super clear - it seems to have covered somewhat over 20 miles but more importantly passed over a substantial (4k feet prominent) mountain ridge. That would make reliable control by line of sight radio very suspect and I don't think the operator would have risked it unless they had control by satellite or a high degree of confidence in its autonomous capability. Around the point it passes over the…
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Don't underestimate the scale of wealth, $10k for a few moments of joy/adrenaline is far from unheard of for those with the means. If you have others, or can reproduce that piece of equipment with mere currency and you're sitting on a mountain of it.. why not?
I don't underestimate it, but if I wanted to play around with an expensive drone I could afford to lose, it would be during the day when I could see what I was doing or in a more interesting place. Dangerously flying a large/experimental drone near an air force base goes from "lose my $10k drone" to incurring the wrath of serious entities. Take down a chopper and if it's traced back to you, you're in some sort of tro…
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Their carry weight is absolute shit and ferrying over 10 doses isn't really worthwhile
There is this confusion over the word “drone”. What you say is absolutely true about quadrocopters and octocopters. It is much less true about fixed wing drones. You don’t have to go all the way to a Global Hawk to get reasonable carrying capacity. Even hobby sized stuff could be used for this reasonably well. Parts are easy to acquire, they are easy to conceal, you can launch them with a catapult like setup, they ca…
It was a hybrid fixed wing drone that could carry 150Kg.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/dyvwmv/look-at-this-huge-dru...