I dont see how PCAS is a cost effective venture now that Switchblade exists. Can somebody lay it out for me?
sublight is back said:I dont see how PCAS is a cost effective venture now that Switchblade exists. Can somebody lay it out for me?
TomS said:sublight is back said:I dont see how PCAS is a cost effective venture now that Switchblade exists. Can somebody lay it out for me?
I really don't understand the question. PCAS is a command and control tool for speeding up the delivery of CAS from any available platforms. Switchblade is essentially a micro-UAV with a hand grenade for a warhead. They're not dealing with the same issues at all.
Identifying the target, then eliminating it is precisely what it does. A switchblade has a nose cam and 15 minute loiter time. It is better at identifying a target than a CAS aircraft can, with more precision, and much lower latency.Bill Walker said:Switchblade is great if you have identified the target, if it is within your range, and if it can be dealt with by a single hand grenade. For anything else you need CAS, and PCAS will help get it.
sublight is back said:Identifying the target, then eliminating it is precisely what it does. A switchblade has a nose cam and 15 minute loiter time. It is better at identifying a target than a CAS aircraft can, with more precision, and much lower latency.Bill Walker said:Switchblade is great if you have identified the target, if it is within your range, and if it can be dealt with by a single hand grenade. For anything else you need CAS, and PCAS will help get it.
CAS and PCAS are great for a convoy of tanks, but Switchblade and platforms like it are going to supersede most CAS engagements.
Bill Walker said:sublight is back said:Identifying the target, then eliminating it is precisely what it does. A switchblade has a nose cam and 15 minute loiter time. It is better at identifying a target than a CAS aircraft can, with more precision, and much lower latency.Bill Walker said:Switchblade is great if you have identified the target, if it is within your range, and if it can be dealt with by a single hand grenade. For anything else you need CAS, and PCAS will help get it.
CAS and PCAS are great for a convoy of tanks, but Switchblade and platforms like it are going to supersede most CAS engagements.
How will Switchblade handle one tank, 100 yards in front of you? I agree the concept is great, and it will prove useful, but it doesn't replace larger munitions, that need larger delivery platforms.
sublight is back said:That is exactly what I just said. Except PCAS isnt being developed because we have an ongoing tank problem, or have not been able to handle it for the last 40 years. It is to address a latency problem that the Switchblade will take care of...
And that makes sense.quellish said:PCAS is intended to provide ground forces (JTACs, CTTs, etc) and air assets a more unified picture of the battlefield. As it is now, ground forces have one view of the battlefield, air assets another, and they have to talk each other through the engagement.
The AC-130, B-1B and B-52H made sense for the first weeks of OEF, but for the next 10+ years of insurgency, the switchblade makes a lot more sense than using sledgehammers against termites.quellish said:I think that if you told AC-130, B-1B and B-52H crews who participated in the early stages of Operation Enduring Freedom that they are going to be replaced by a radio controlled hand grenade you might get some interesting looks.
TomS said:I really don't understand the question. PCAS is a command and control tool for speeding up the delivery of CAS from any available platforms. Switchblade is essentially a micro-UAV with a hand grenade for a warhead. They're not dealing with the same issues at all.
I don't want to get yelled at for polluting the thread, I believe "B-1B's, Apaches, F-15Es or Reapers" are not cost effective, low latency, or engagement efficient enough for an ongoing 10+ year insurgency operation.JFC Fuller said:TomS said:I really don't understand the question. PCAS is a command and control tool for speeding up the delivery of CAS from any available platforms. Switchblade is essentially a micro-UAV with a hand grenade for a warhead. They're not dealing with the same issues at all.
This was the correct answer all along. PCAS is about linking views of the battlefield and better coordinating CAS. Switchblade is a standalone precision effector. With a very small warhead and the need for it to be transported it has very limited utility when compared to other CAS assets that are available, be they B-1B's, Apaches, F-15Es or Reapers.
yes all the above and the huge flying brick, one (too large) shot wonder called switchblade was designed in the 90s. The year is 2014.yasotay said:Here is to hoping all future wars occur in slight wind conditions and fair weather. Here is to hoping that you can always operate in a cyber superiority environment. Here is to hoping that there are only as many enemies as you have flying hand grenades. Here is to hoping your enemies don't have the means to defeat that all seeing sensor. Here is to hoping you can carry all of the flying hand grenades you need for the fire fight (I.e., they take up a lot of space in a ruck sack).
What is the effective bursting radius of a Switchblade? What is the effective bursting radius of a 30mm? 2.75" ten pound warhead?
Is it good kit? Yup.
Is it the panacea of all future CAS needs? Nope.
JFC Fuller said:TomS said:The assumption that late-war Afghanistan is the only scenario for which US forces need to be equipped strikes me as very dangerous. Probably this is a debate more suited to the Bar, however.
And the idea that something like Switchblade is sufficient even for that scenario is dangerous, the guys at Wanat faced anywhere from 200-500 Taliban fighters who were ultimately beaten back with the very same B-1Bs, Apaches and A-10s that sublight so hates.
Avimimus said:What about in asymmetric warfare - if the other side has switchblade - do they need 200-500 fighters to do damage?
A larger drone firing conventional unguided or disposable munitions might work as well as an Apache - the real issue is designing drones that can function without a controller. A drone that can follow the orders 'kill everything that moves in this carefully specified free-fire-zone" and then actually do it without screwing up.