41–50 of 57 posts
Why in Europe we cannot have positive enforcement, constructive motivation followed by fair compensation? So sick of this bloody continent.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's a pretty big deal in the Ukraine war. Russia has been using cheap drones to attack Ukraine, which initially only had very expensive SAM systems to intercept. Ukraine then introduced cheap electric drone interceptors which have been working well. Russia's response was to increase the speed of its drones. As long as Ukraine can match that speed increase with the interceptors, it will still be able to intercept dro…
> will still be able to intercept drones cheaply But likely not at the scale required to make a real dent. This is the problem with the "this new weapon will win the Russia-Ukraine war" mantra we've heard so often (Javelin, HIMARS, F-16, etc). Lots of very capable weapons have entered the fight, but at limited scale compared to Russia's enormous manpower and manufacturing advantage.
Last year Ukraine churned out more than three million drones, and is on track to triple that this year. The model upon which this particular drone is based costs about $3k, so they can make as many as they need.
Nobody is saying this will win the war. What I said is it will allow the Ukrainians to intercept Russian drones cheaply. This is already forcing the Russians to spend more on each drone to make them harder to intercept, which is a victory in itself. If you have to put $100k into your drones to make them effective, you're not manufacturing drones anymore. You're making comparatively expensive cruise missiles, and you can't launch them in the hundreds every day without going broke.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's a pretty big deal in the Ukraine war. Russia has been using cheap drones to attack Ukraine, which initially only had very expensive SAM systems to intercept. Ukraine then introduced cheap electric drone interceptors which have been working well. Russia's response was to increase the speed of its drones. As long as Ukraine can match that speed increase with the interceptors, it will still be able to intercept dro…
> will still be able to intercept drones cheaply But likely not at the scale required to make a real dent. This is the problem with the "this new weapon will win the Russia-Ukraine war" mantra we've heard so often (Javelin, HIMARS, F-16, etc). Lots of very capable weapons have entered the fight, but at limited scale compared to Russia's enormous manpower and manufacturing advantage.
They made about 100,000 interceptor drones in the last year.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
You can only go so fast with propellers, as the propeller tips approach speed of sound and then life gets complicated.
And old assumption, widely held until the soviet Bear bombers shattered the misconception that propellers must remain subsonic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_Tu-95
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_XF-84H_Thunderscreech
There are amateurs chasing the speed record using similar designs too: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=world%27s%20fas... Unit cost for a lot of these seems to be under ~$5K USD, not counting the value of engineering time. How do you counter a swarm of these things coming from all directions? This kind of weapon has interesting consequences for public speaking events by leaders. Or large industrial proje…
I’ve been worried about the same thing, but I’m more worried about it being used as a mechanism for deploying chemical weapons.
Interesting, that this form-factor was popularized by DIY builders. First one was dutch-built, sponsored by Red Bull after prototyping stage, to film Verstappen's full F1 lap (so semi-DIY, so to say), but then record was taken back and forth between two DIY builders — Ben Biggs in Australia and Luke Maximo and his father Latest record by Ben Biggs was 626kph (389mph). Latest record by Luke Maximo was 655kph (408mph).
You can only go so fast with propellers, as the propeller tips approach speed of sound and then life gets complicated.
Interesting, that this form-factor was popularized by DIY builders. First one was dutch-built, sponsored by Red Bull after prototyping stage, to film Verstappen's full F1 lap (so semi-DIY, so to say), but then record was taken back and forth between two DIY builders — Ben Biggs in Australia and Luke Maximo and his father Latest record by Ben Biggs was 626kph (389mph). Latest record by Luke Maximo was 655kph (408mph).
> this form-factor "It must be pointy". The photo is so murky you only notice the shiny propeller cones.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
And old assumption, widely held until the soviet Bear bombers shattered the misconception that propellers must remain subsonic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_Tu-95
Or the appropriately named Thunderscreech. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_XF-84H_Thunderscreech
There are amateurs chasing the speed record using similar designs too: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=world%27s%20fas... Unit cost for a lot of these seems to be under ~$5K USD, not counting the value of engineering time. How do you counter a swarm of these things coming from all directions? This kind of weapon has interesting consequences for public speaking events by leaders. Or large industrial proje…
Let's say you could protect yourself with the same model of drone, which you probably can't, but let's say you can. Where do you put those defense drones? The attacker gets to choose where the attack happens and you can't be ready _everywhere_. The real answer probably involves going on the offensive yourself.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's a pretty big deal in the Ukraine war. Russia has been using cheap drones to attack Ukraine, which initially only had very expensive SAM systems to intercept. Ukraine then introduced cheap electric drone interceptors which have been working well. Russia's response was to increase the speed of its drones. As long as Ukraine can match that speed increase with the interceptors, it will still be able to intercept dro…
> will still be able to intercept drones cheaply But likely not at the scale required to make a real dent. This is the problem with the "this new weapon will win the Russia-Ukraine war" mantra we've heard so often (Javelin, HIMARS, F-16, etc). Lots of very capable weapons have entered the fight, but at limited scale compared to Russia's enormous manpower and manufacturing advantage.