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Anduril announces Roadrunner, jet-powered VTOL drone

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Re: Anduril announces Roadrunner, jet-powered VTOL drone

#91

Post by zmgsabst »

adastra22 wrote: post #85
zmgsabst wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Ok, but why hasn't there been a WW3 yet?

We’re currently at the start of WW3, as NATO vs BRICS escalates.

The waste of the US military in Iraq, the defeat in Afghanistan, the failures of domestic spying and PSYOPs dividing the nation, and the failed war in Ukraine has precipitated a state of weakness where rival countries are jockeying for position in both the Middle East and SE Asia. China is openly waging irregular warfare against the US, killing 100,000+ Americans per year in the Second Opium War. Our borders are regularly not only breached by Mexican paramilitaries, but the invasion assisted by DOD flights.

The failure of the “sheepdog” to keep the herd safe is happening right now.

Edit:

If you disagree with my conclusion —

I explained why I thought that in my post, so please explain either where you thought I was wrong or what you know that I don’t.

Rather than trot out the very tired “muh conspiracy theories!”

Re: Anduril announces Roadrunner, jet-powered VTOL drone

#92

Post by CobrastanJorji »

goalonetwo wrote: post #47

The whole defense industry leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Once you peel the narrative that we are supposed to be the good guys (hint: in some/most cases, we are not), you realize that you really just help to kill people.

In general, I 100% agree with you, and I totally see how the technology displayed here can, is, and will be applied to more offensive purposes. But in this one specific case, this thing is a missile defense tool. Its sole purpose is to reduce killing.

Re: Anduril announces Roadrunner, jet-powered VTOL drone

#93

Post by zmgsabst »

ethanwillis wrote: post #87
zmgsabst wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Why did you use the word Banderite?

Banderites: followers of Stepan Bandera.

You know, those people with Nazi insignia that are celebrated as heroes in Ukraine.

And feature in NATO photos.

https://www.newsweek.com/nato-says-it-didnt-notice-ukraine-s...

Re: Anduril announces Roadrunner, jet-powered VTOL drone

#94

Post by Maxion »

baron816 wrote: post #58

I’ve been watching a bunch of these videos where they war game realistic and pretty far fetched battle scenarios https://youtube.com/@grimreapers?si=lvRNWBee9RfnkxBI . They’ll cover stuff like a Chinese carrier group vs a US carrier group using slightly futuristic weapons. What often decides the outcomes of battles are the accuracy of ships’ air defenses and how many missiles they have onboard. Shooting down superson…

> What often decides the outcomes of battles are the accuracy of ships’ air defenses and how many missiles they have onboard.

I always do wonder how realistic these war games actually are?

They (at least the war games that are public) always assume at least one or both sides are near 100% competent with their systems.

The Ukraine war has at least showed that that is not the case, the best example perhaps being the sinking of the Moskva, or the multitude of times Ukraine has managed to pierce Russian air defenses (who, mind you, has the most AD of anyone).

I'm pretty certain that a lot of these war game scenarios, of played out in real life, wouldn't play out the same way. There'd be miscommunication, technical issues with equipment, massive total surprise on both sides and so forth.

Re: Anduril announces Roadrunner, jet-powered VTOL drone

#95

Post by hgomersall »

brotchie wrote: post #21
tonymet wrote: post #20

why not just detach the warhead and save the drone?

Too complicated. My understanding is that you have an defensive area with ~20 of the hangers scattered around. 1. !!Incoming threat!! 2. LAUNCH ALL THE DRONES, 3. One intercepts, 4. Other loiter a while in case of additional threats, 5. Remaining drones return to base. Get the operational advantage of having many vehicles in the air, all controllable by one operator, but you recover those not used.

I learnt that tactic from that well known documentary, Stargate Atlantis.

Re: Anduril announces Roadrunner, jet-powered VTOL drone

#96

Post by yakshaving_jgt »

zmgsabst wrote: post #82
adastra22 wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can stick your head in the sand and pretend that humanity is not an intrinsically violent species, and that if we all held hands and sang Kumbaya we'd be able to get along peaceably and without need for defensive tools. Or you can wake up to the reality that a strong defensive, and sometimes offensive capability is required in order to enforce the state of peace that we all take for granted, and be part of the pr…

[flagged]

The US army has helped stop the russians from killing me and my friends in Ukraine.

The russians launch missiles and drones at civilians, like me.

Last October, I was sitting at my kitchen table, writing Haskell and working on my startup, when outside my kitchen window the local air defence successfully blasted a Shahed 136 out of the air. Both the missile trail and the cloud from the explosion hung in the air for several minutes. I have a good photo of it.

The air defence doesn’t always work. Sometimes it’s extremely loud, even when we’re sitting in the underground shelter during an air raid. Sometimes people die. So far it’s mostly been women and children.

I might have misinterpreted your comment, but “it made the sheep less safe” seems both wildly inaccurate and offensive. And to characterise it as the sponsoring of “Banderites”, well, I’d ask you which department of the kremlin you work for.

Re: Anduril announces Roadrunner, jet-powered VTOL drone

#97

Post by sho »

zmgsabst wrote: post #82
adastra22 wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can stick your head in the sand and pretend that humanity is not an intrinsically violent species, and that if we all held hands and sang Kumbaya we'd be able to get along peaceably and without need for defensive tools. Or you can wake up to the reality that a strong defensive, and sometimes offensive capability is required in order to enforce the state of peace that we all take for granted, and be part of the pr…

[flagged]

Anyone can come up with a list of mistakes made by any major actor in any sphere you care to name. OK, sure, people and even countries make big, dumb mistakes sometimes.

That doesn't prove anything other than humans remain human. I'm no blind supporter of Uncle Sam but things are just a little bit more complicated than your comment seems to suggest.

Re: Anduril announces Roadrunner, jet-powered VTOL drone

#98

Post by [deleted] »

contrarian1234 wrote: post #75
FL33TW00D wrote: post #66

Where is the UK/EU equivalent of Anduril? Seems this "neo-defense" revolution is a US only phenomenon.

I've never heard of a defense sector startup in Europe In the US its quite common. A huge percentage of defense spending is specifically restricted to small businesses and big projects have percentages that must be subcontracted to small subcontractors. And then there is the whole SBIR program too. So anything R&D-ish goes there. It's a giant subsidy program for white christian enginners (bc you need clearance) I say…

[deleted]

Re: Anduril announces Roadrunner, jet-powered VTOL drone

#99

Post by Maxion »

slt2021 wrote: post #19
missedthecue wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They will not solve this issue because laser weapons will not work when light is defracted (fog, heavy clouds, rain), and they will not work against targets beyond the horizon. It's not a technology hurdle, it's a physics impossibility. Interceptor missiles are here to stay. Lasers will accompany them but never replace.

There is still benefit in shooting laser at a speed of light, instead of a guided rocket which travels at 2-3 Machs at best. 2 machs is ~0.686 km/s - vs 300k km/s for laser. and laser can be mounted on a plane, which makes it even more dangerous for air2air combat

Lasers won't really be used in A2A, except for maybe intercepting missiles and drones.

There's not really any A2A going on anymore within visual range.

Re: Anduril announces Roadrunner, jet-powered VTOL drone

#100

Post by yakshaving_jgt »

zmgsabst wrote: post #93
ethanwillis wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why did you use the word Banderite?

Banderites: followers of Stepan Bandera. You know, those people with Nazi insignia that are celebrated as heroes in Ukraine. And feature in NATO photos. https://www.newsweek.com/nato-says-it-didnt-notice-ukraine-s...

You have to be pretty out of touch (or just dishonest) to think that russia’s war against Ukraine has anything to do with Naziism.

https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/02/pro-kremlin-ne...

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