The Morning Rant: Minimalist Edition

Drones are the Gotha bombers or V2s or Viet Cong or the IEDs of the 2020s. Modern, well-equipped armies are having a difficult time dealing with their threats, counter-measures must be improved (or invented), and doctrine must change, otherwise those modern armies will continue to fire $100,000 missiles at $1,000 drones...right up until they run out!

And imagine if the Chinese become more proficient at drones in warfare! Swarms of cheap long range drones sent against our multi-billion dollar carriers, which can certainly handle the threats, but not indefinitely.

The information-gathering capabilities should not be minimized either. The recent Hezbollah attack on an Israeli base is a good example...a drone supposedly loitered for 30 minutes before its operator chose a target. That's is an impossible situation for any army, and one that must change.

But Man's ingenuity is rarely more impressive than when he is fighting, and the people doing the most fighting are at least aware of the problem.

Rafael expects Iron Beam laser to be active in 2025

Even Boeing is in on it, and apparently the door didn't fall off the laser during the test, so...

Boeing's 5-kilowatt laser weapon takes down heavy drones in landmark CLWS test

This seems to be a high-tech answer to a low-tech threat, but if it works...who cares! There are obviously lots of hurdles to overcome, and I wonder whether energy weapons will ever become mobile enough for a squad to use them.

Regardless, the arms race has begun in this category, and who knows how it will shake out. My guess is that it will be a mix of technologies combined with good old fighting sense on the part of non-coms and junior officers.

But for now, drones are a real threat, and as their stealth and range increase, so will their ability to disrupt previously secure operations.

[Crossposted at CutJibNewsletter]

posted by CBD at 10:55 AM

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