Posted on 04/29/2022 10:47:16 PM PDT by Zhang Fei
At its simplest, a small drone is an eye in the sky, giving what every commander has wanted for centuries: a view of what is happening on the other side of the hill, or in the middle of the forest, or just down the next street, without having to send troops. Aerial reconnaissance was previously confined to higher levels of command and only gradually filtered down the chain; now every squad leader can have a folding Mavic Mini 2 small enough to fit into a cargo pocket but able to send back HD video from three miles away for half an hour.
This is a transformational capability. One video shows a Ukrainian mortar team equipped with a quadcopter. The mortar, a simple, low-tech device for lobbing bombs in the general direction of enemy positions becomes vastly more lethal when the drone operator can find the enemy, then direct mortar fire on to their location, reporting on the fall of every shot so it can be adjusted on the target. This control means that mortars can even destroy tanks with direct hits, rare in previous conflicts.
Ukrainian military drone operator Oleh Sobchenko, interviewed by Euromaidan Press, confirms that volunteer drone operators with consumer drones are doing much of the target location and fire direction for Ukrainian artillery. Although Ukraine has some military-grade spotter drones, including locally made Fury, Spectator and Stork models, there are not enough to go around, but there are thousands of DJI and other quadcopters. Vast numbers of drone videos show Ukrainian artillery carrying out highly accurate strikes on Russian forces.
Other drone videos show Russian tanks hit by Javelins and other anti-tank weapons. It seems highly likely that drones play a key role, especially in urban areas where drones can find vehicles sheltering behind buildings
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
Ukraine ping
Helping the Ukrainians destroy Russian formations was not what the Chinese manufacturers intended, but these cut-rate drones are indeed filling a niche no one expected when Russia’s Special Military Operation began. A related article in Bloomberg alludes to the fact that field artillery, the King of Battle, is the largely unsung supporting player crowded out in the media by star turns on the part of ATGM teams hunting Russian tanks, infantry fighting vehicles (BMP’s, BTR’s) and soft-skinned supply vehicles alike:
It is field artillery, with assists from drones, consumer and military grade that is chiefly responsible for the bulk of the damage to Russian convoys. The Ukrainian estimate is that it went through 100,000 howitzer shells in a month. It will likely need at least that many per month in order to either hold the Russians in the East and South or push them back.
Four paragraphs in, and no hint as to WHY...
Regards,
I had to go to the website - $14,000 sounds like a lot for a consumer drone.
I see that they do have them at those prices, but others for $500 to $1,000 too.
[I had to go to the website - $14,000 sounds like a lot for a consumer drone.
I see that they do have them at those prices, but others for $500 to $1,000 too.]
You are correct, that is in Thai Baht.
Make sure you are looking at US Amazon.
Or Chinese Alibaba.
Presumably because the Chinese government at least ostensibly supports the Russians.
Some day these things will show up at your home when you even say say something they don’t like.
Read on. At least one manufacturer regrets its use for “destructive purposes”.
One should however look for a model with sufficient range to use for counterbattery spotting, which I would assume requires 5-10 kilometers to get over the front lines and into the artillery zone. The $100-150 kind go a kilometer, tops, and may not have the loiter time at that distance.
Russians use missiles to shoot them down; however, drones are much cheaper than missiles, so Ukraine might be able to bankrupt Russia’s missile budget.
In addition to spotting, I’ve seen dozens of videos with small drones dropping anti-tank grenades, killing or damaging tanks and APC’s. These are obviously bigger than a DJI, but still non-military equipment anyone with the money can buy or build for under $10K. The implications for future warfare are significant...
https://twitter.com/UAWeapons/status/1516860518870523905
https://twitter.com/UAWeapons/status/1517278456790269952
“Ukraine might be able to bankrupt Russia’s missile budget.”
They already bankrupted our missile budget. What a boondoggle for defense contracto. It’s their turn, after Big Pharma ate at the trough for 2 years.
Why not? It’s not Congress’s money, and it’s Free!
Ukraine ping
BasketofDeplorables: [They already bankrupted our missile budget.]
https://www.cbo.gov/system/files?file=2018-10/54219-oco_spending.pdf
What we’ve spent on Ukraine so far is pocket change. And they’re fighting the #2 power in the world in a high intensity war rather than a bunch of ragtag insurgents mounting desultory ambushes. The casualty numbers bear this out. ~20K Russian dead in just over 2 months vs ~10K insurgents per year in Afghanistan and Iraq combined, tops.
It's THB14,500...not $14,500 LOL. ฿14,500 is about $425US
Sorry for any confusion.
Still don’t care who’s fighting who over there. Not our business.
But 30 TRILLION in debt IS my business, and my kid’s, grandkid’s, and great-grandkid’s.
We’ve already running out of Javelin missiles, and are unable to make more.
https://nationaldailyng.com/ukraine-us-runs-out-of-weapons-replenishing-stockpiles-will-take-years-csis/
“We’ve already running out of Javelin missiles, and are unable to make more”.
Beware the Military-Industrial Complex?
Well, Russia no longer looks like the #2 military power in the world.
Maybe #2 military power in Ukraine
The official statement by DJI was that they are suspending operations in both Russia and Ukraine because they do not want their drones used for military purposes.
“Our products are made to improve people’s lives and benefit the world, and we absolutely deplore any use of our products to cause harm,” states the release. DJI say their drones are supposed to give us new ways to see our world, create new business and job opportunities, and provide new tools to protect the environment, grow food and respond to emergencies.
That’s what they stated was their reason, as given in the article
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