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Just pointing out that one mile is 5,280 feet, which is about 24,720' short of 30,000'. The fastest commercially available drones are around 80mph, which makes them about 1140mph slower than an F-35.
Oh, and how are they going to scramble their drone swarm in the first place if they can't detect the F-35?
I dunno, it might work, just use the drones to be a massive net and clog the engines of the aircraft as it flies by! Sure, you'll lose most, if not all, of the drones doing that, but it'll be funny at least.
Ace Combat 7.
Well, no but actually yes. See the countless videos of people in Ukraine flying a DJI into a Russian airbase and just dropping fucking grenades on planes.
Also, consider:
We already have military drones that are practically fully automated, and we had our first fully autonomous kill decision five years ago now.
DARPA did some tests with an AI piloted fighter jet in 2022, it successfully killed all human enemy jets 5/5 times.
The weakest part of an air superiority platform is the squishy meatbag flying it. Without having to worry about keeping a human alive, you can make air superiority fighters that are vastly more capable with high-g maneuvering and more compact air frames.
Now, Elon's not talking about air superiority drones, he's talking about drone swarms. Drone swarms ARE a real threat, but AFAIK they're more of an infrastructure threat in that they're usually worried about in the context of disabling ships, airports, etc. not individual fighter jets. For that, you get Vadim to tie a grenade to his DJI.
New weapons almost never replace old ones, they supplement. Drones aren't going to replace piloted jets, but they can absolutely supplement them in the form of wingmen. Drones won't replace artillery, guided missiles or grenades, but they will replace SOME of them.
A drone swarm will never replace a jet, but it might replace some artillery bombardments.
The weakest part of an air superiority platform is the squishy meatbag flying it.
Only true of 4th Gen jets. 5th Gen doesn't need as high maneuverability. If they did, you'd see further developments in combat drugs and water breathing suits.
The trick is to use the drone while the plane is sleeping in the hangar
The documentary piece called Ace Combat 7 told me that jets would win.
But how do you get the crewed aircraft to hold still long enough?
Drones could act as automated movable flack. Just get a bunch to get near the flight path and explode. There are definitely drones with a range way over 1 mile.
Or put some pieces of high-carbon steel/titanium on the drone and just let them get sucked into the intake.
I think we are going to be getting to a point where signal jamming is going to become a more critical part of warfare. A military base isn't going to allow any kind of transmission to occur nearby in order to protect itself.
This is why laser targeting is a thing. Cant jam a laser beam.
fiber optic drones (spool of fiber optic cable gets video signal from drone, and sends commands) is unjammable.
Elon is just dishing out the same Russian talking points as Pierre Sprey. Updated to acknowledge Ukraine. High tech weapons could never defeat Russian ingenuity.
Of course they want to talk about the massive impact of drones! Distracts from the abysmal performance of Russia's military. If these grifters were actually just neutral observers amused at military incompetence, they don't have to look to the future. Aug'22 has enough unforced error anecdotes to last a lifetime.
Ehhhh, drones have meaningfully transformed the battlefield. It's why trench warfare came back; basically every inch of the battlefield is under constant surveillance. The instant a large number of people jump up out of a trench, some drone operator is talking to an artillery crew. You'd best believe that our intelligence and defense apparatus was taking extensive notes. Emphasis on was.
How many feet in a mile?
Five tomatoes (5280)
Thank you for the mnemonic.
Easy. One mile is 1609.34 meters. One meter is 3.28 feet. 1609.34 times 3,28 is 5278,63.
Depends on your shoe size
Doesn't it also depend on how long the mile is?
Clearly at speed or altitude the aircraft should be safe, but it is vulnerable on the ground, at take off and landing. Obviously there are counter measures. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-65591023
Jets are usually most vulnerable on the ground. This is another attack profile the air field defenses will need to guard against, along with cruise missiles, stealth bombers, hypersonic missiles, and many more.
There is a lot more improvement that can be made to drones (Coordination, guidance, speed, etc) and advancement in battery technology seems fairly inevitable