Color me sceptical, My 2 cents , there was no need or benefit for AI at any stage why bother with it , its was manually controlled mission from start to finish. 4g for network like its being done in Ukraine.
AI is a catch phrase being thrown around very lightly and MSM is hardly experts reporting on stuff.
Let take a peek at Ukraine most advanced interceptor drone , AS3 Surveyor developed and manufactured in US and claims to have accounted for 40% of all Ukrainian drone interceptions. Unlike ukrainian 3d printed drones with all Chinese component base this one is made in quite industrial fashion with injection molded components and it looks like this one could actualy support AI
In any case electronics are mostly civilian surprisingly with no shielding anywhere and given its running an Rasberry pie P5 .The only part you cant buy on aliexpress seems to be Ukrainian made frequency hopping datalink. In any case there are bunch of these interceptor remenants on sale in Ukraine for anwhere between 50-200Eur so might buy me one to look at in detail. Sting and other Ukrainan ones are not that interesting as they are quite simple FPV in comparison.
“”
Recovered components indicate the use of a frequency-hopping communications system.
The radio link reportedly uses the B5 module, produced by a company based in Lviv.
Key characteristics include:
• frequency-hopping spread spectrum communications
• operating band between 500–1010 MHz
• improved resistance against electronic warfare and signal interception
Frequency hopping communications are a key feature for UAV operations in contested electromagnetic environments.
They allow:
• rapid switching across frequencies
• reduced vulnerability to jamming
• more resilient command-and-control links
Its kinda impressive on how simple the electronics are ,but also designs refined aerodynamics and structure , enabling future growth without retooling ,5 stars for effort to make it cheap .
Note air defense interceptor drones mostly operate rear of the front lines so need for shielding is much less than for drones operating on front line , also life cycle of an interceptor is short compared to recce drones.
One thing to note , these interceptors are not made to military standards by a long shot , best used within months ,like in war in Ukraine , any long term storage like typical for military gear i would expect failure rates to skyrocket. So i imagine AS-3 procured by Romania,Poland and couple of others will end up either in some warzone or disposed of before long.
Interesting case of interceptor intercepting an AS-3 interceptor.
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The operator conducted a demonstration in San Diego, at Aerial Firefighting North America fair.
