Posted on 01/09/2025 10:44:36 AM PST by whyilovetexas111
Ukraine’s drone warfare has reached unprecedented heights, with 1.2 million drones produced in 2024 alone. Key components include FPV kamikaze drones, reconnaissance quadcopters, and long-range strike UAVs like the Lyutyy, which boasts a 600-mile range.
(Excerpt) Read more at 19fortyfive.com ...
I doubt they’re making those drones themselves, and they’re certainly not paying for them either.
I’d guess, including both our direct support and reimbursement of others’ expenditures, close to 100% of what the Ukrainians spent on this.
This is all like the Spanish Civil War — the Nazis supported one side and got to test out weapons and tactics, while Stalin supported another side got to test out weapons and tactics. Good preparation for the really big war they wanted to have later.
About 8 billion dollars would be my estimate.
That is based on following sales from several US companies which design and manufacture combat drones. There are hundreds of systems and thousands of models in different price points.
The total expenditures could be much higher. Some companies do not publicly report sales. There are also plenty of foreign companies that deal in combat drones. We are not especially competitive and might be buying some of theirs.
But these systems are really cheap, compared to most weapons programs. And they are terribly effective. They are changing the nature of warfare in the same manner as the deployment of machine guns did a century ago.
Our generals are mostly incapable of dealing with this. It will take a new generation of officers to devise appropriate strategies and tactics for using drones in warfare.
That is not going to be cheap.
Military grade drones are very expensive. A toy the size of softball with a flight time of 2-3 minutes runs about $500
The big question. Are tanks obsolete?
yes, especially with AI coordinated drone swarms
King weapons appears to be directed energy weapons...and hypersonic missiles...and space weapons...with secondary bioweapons...
those who are about to die or be enslaved wish y’awl a happy new year!
The simple answer... Yes. They are obsolete sitting ducks.
Perfect time to upgrade to “woke generals”..../sarc
Our proving grounds
You can buy thousands of drones for the price of one fifth generation fighter.
Can’t wait until January 20th when all of these paid Ukrainian Hacks go out of Business.
Expensive compared to any other ordnance on a destroyed target by destroyed target basis?
I think not.
It amazing how people think this is one-sided and that Russia is not learning from this experience. Russia’s military turned out to be ill-prepared and basically a joke at the beginning. The west spending billions upon billions of dollars (more than Russia’s military budget) arming the Ukrainians will produce a much more battle harden Russian military with their millions of drones. A lot of people think the Russians are stupid, they are not.
We have taught the Russians our western military tactics and defensive capabilities. We have not weaken them, but made them much more capable in the future. Once we give them the vast mineral resources that they have captured from Ukraine (which will happen with a future peace deal) we will face a much stronger enemy in a few years.
I liken it to the Winter War of 1940, when the Finns kicked the Soviets’ butts, for awhile.
And it lulled Hitler into thinking that defeating the Soviet Union would just be a matter of “kicking in the door and the whole rotten edifice will come tumbling down.”
He was wrong.
Ukraine is reported to have acquired over 2m drone kits from S.Korea. Before that they got them from China. I have a feeling that the S.Korean pipeline dried up with the problems of the President and Military with the government putting the brakes on arming Ukraine. S.Korea was Anthony Blinkens and Jake Sullivans last hope to provide ground equipment in sufficient quantities to keep Ukraine afloat for another 6-9 months - after they left Korea, the president tried to stage a military takeover but it failed. The Zelinski curse is real.
This does not have to always be the case.
Drone swarms are really the wave of the future. If I have a swarm of 100 drones that cost $100 but have a 20% failure rate, that is far better than 20 drones at $500 each.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.