Does anyone know if the 777 is heavily composite materials vs. traditional aluminum skinned aircraft? Would a composite materials aircraft blow up better? Do composites burn real good?
Aluminum.
Unless there is some new drone in service:
- drone range?
- departure point?
- what AA weapon?
- loitering in area or vectored after launch?
- Coordination, by whom?
- terminal guidance?
Would a composite materials aircraft blow up better? Do composites burn real good?
Irrelevant questions until the aforementioned are answered. Composite is destroyed by HE just like aluminum and they both sink.
Out of the many problems with this scenario besides the motive, is the complexity of the op. As to the motive, if the whereabouts are to remain mysterious, the shootdown should have been done in less trafficked and deeper water.
That would be new. Dog fighting drones. Now that would be interesting to watch.
I suppose the only reason we haven't seen such is that the US has not faced significant aerial opposition since before the advent of the modern drone. Of course, surface to air missiles, such as the SM-2MR, are just specialized drones.