The top comment at the Newsweek comment was “We’re reaching a turning point where dedicated warships are becoming wastes of money and resources.
As drones become cheaper, more precise, and more advanced, large and expensive targets become vulnerable to swarm tactics. That 30 million dollar cruiser can be sunk by a drone for a hundredth of the cost and a thousandth of the manufacturing time. I wouldn’t be shocked if, by the end of the century, the world’s navies re-orient themselves to mostly consist of cheap drone carrier ships.
The ironclad replaced sailing ships. Battleships replaced ironclads. Carriers and missile cruisers replaced battleships. Now it looks like carriers and missile cruisers are on their way out.”
I agree with this comment, but we are fools if we think Russia will be the only one to ever realize this new truth. My guess is that USA relies on imports via ship 5x to 10X compared to Russia based on our geographic positioning.
We currently rely on having everything from petroleum to vaccines imported from overseas. If there were a war between USA and any modern enemy, USA will most likely be waving a white flag within a few weeks as not only would our navy would be lying at the bottom of the ocean, but also would all the ships that transport to USA. Well, maybe not the transport ships, as those all belong to China.
reality is China makes a ton of drones. If we go to war with them...we are toast if it ends up whoever can make the most drones.
I always thought the US Navy could benefit from oil tankers converted to fly cruise missles and intermediate range ballistic missles. Now add drones to that inventory. Cut costs and improve lethality for less cost than an aircraft carrier.
Drone swarms are the future - you are correct