Why this matters. Ukraine like Russia is facing a demographic crisis. WW2 and its echoes means they must avoid getting too many soldiers killed in combat. Drones save lives.
These drones are pretty cheap. I hope the U.S. Navy, which is beginning to build maritime drones, is paying attention to this cost issue. If you can build maritime drones that cost a few thousand dollars, you can swarm Chinese ships in such numbers that they cannot get all of them. I also want our captains to have a nearly unlimited supply of these available to launch. Make them cheap enough and manufacturing scales nicely.
C'mon, It is the US military:
ReplyDeleteWhat SHOULD cost a few thousand dollars will end up being several tens of thousands because they gotta make the contractors happy,
Usefulness and warfighting ability come second to profits and post-retirement income.