Swarming Aerial Drones

This is old but hasn’t been mentioned yet. I could envision this tech being used as a kind of smart Chaff:

www.google.com

Watch military swarm drones lock on and surround a target

Autonomous weapon bans (previously) are currently being debated, but in the meantime, the US Department of Defense continues work with its Perdix Micro-Drone project. Ostensibly for surveillance, it's clear these…
www.google.com www.google.com
 
shin_getter said:
From some discussions about the war, Harop gets a manufacturing price tag of $80~100k (supposedly reported in israeli media) per drone, quite cheap if one thinks of 1000km strike range.
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Do you have a link to the media where the is quoted price? That seems pretty cheap for the cost of the overall system.
 
www.forbes.com

Indian Army Shows Off Drone Swarm Of Mass Destruction

At a live demonstration last week, the Indian Army showed off a swarm of 75 drones destroying a variety of simulated targets in explosive kamikaze attacks. It's a strong indicator of how swarm attack technology is proliferating.
www.forbes.com www.forbes.com

At a live demonstration for India’s Army Day last week, the Indian military showed off a swarm of 75 drones destroying a variety of simulated targets in explosive kamikaze attacks for the first time. The commentary accompanying the demonstration claimed that the swarm is capable of autonomous operation. You can see a video of the event here...

The Indian Army appears to be using three types of UAV: a quadcopter probably for sensing, a six-rotor mothership drone, and the small quadcopters with explosives on them. “National security discourse in the United States around drones often emphasizes a large homogenous swarm, but India's work shows this is a mistake.” A mix of drones with heavyweight carriers, reusable scouts with advanced sensors and expendable attack drones may be more flexible and capable. Kallenborn also notes that the claim of an autonomous swarm is plausible, but it is not clear how much of this has been achieved so far.

According to the commentary, the drone swarm is capable of attacking targets from a range of 50 kilometers. In addition to reconnaissance and attack, Indian drone swarms will also be able to carry out resupply missions, with a 75-drone swarm delivering over 1,200 pounds of supplies to troops in the battle zone.

India is also developing drone swarms that can be deployed from fast jets. A Jaguar strike aircraft will carry four pods each containing each of the Air-Launched Flexible Asset (Swarm) or ALFA-S drones, which are capable of attacking air defenses. This project was fast-tracked last year in response to China’s deployment for surface-to-air missiles across the Ladakh border.
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uklandpower.com

HAVE LOITERING MUNITIONS MADE TANKS OBSOLETE?

By Nicholas Drummond Graphic images of Armenian T-72s being obliterated by Azerbaijani loitering munitions or “kamikaze drones,” as the media prefer to call them, suggest that the modern battlefiel…
uklandpower.com uklandpower.com

Nice overview of the topic on the offensive and defensive side:


ezvptawwqacwabf.jpeg
Ultimately, all MBTs, IFVs and armoured infantry carriers will need some kind of remote weapon station fitted with weapons and sensors capable of engaging both aerial and ground targets. Here an M134 7.62 mm Minigun on a Kongsberg RS4 can provide a significant close-in defensive effect. (Image: US Marine Corps)
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It does seem to me that Dual purpose weapons ought to be favored over single purpose ones. Air defense needs to be ubiquitous and cover a complete range of targets, covering both saturation attacks and high performance penetration attacks. I expect that once all aspect air defense coverage is fulfilled, there is basically almost no direct fire ground target that does not fall into the effective engagement envelope of some AA capable system in the formation, thus removing much demand for specialized weapons.

The greatly superior mobility with good presence of loitering munition means evasion is not an option for heavy land forces, and sheer firepower is needed to survive an well resourced attack. I'd expect it to crowd out other forms firepower as they are less critical.

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www.thedrive.com

The Army Is Testing Arming Its Light Tactical Vehicles With Drones (Updated)

A DAGOR ultra-light tactical vehicle appeared at the recent Edge 21 exercise packing tube-launched drones.
www.thedrive.com www.thedrive.com
Kind of a no-brainer here, but ALTIUS-600 with 276 miles on light load is something interesting.
 
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www.the-sun.com

Israel uses first-ever drone swarm in battle to hunt Hamas terrorists

ISRAEL used the first ever drone swarm deployed in battle to hunt down Hamas terrorists, it was reported. The drones have no human input but instead link together using artificial intelligence to s…
www.the-sun.com www.the-sun.com

defense-update.com

IDF Debuts Drone Swarms to Seek and Attack Hidden Targets - Defense Update:

During the recent 'Guardian of the Walls' operations in Gaza, Israel's Defense Forces (IDF) employed swarms of unmanned systems to strike inside the enemy area to seek and destroy hidden targets. This was the combat debut of a new capability developed by the IDF that demonstrated the great value...
defense-update.com defense-update.com

www.forbes.com

Hamas Attacks Israel With Kamikaze Drones, Claims Hit On Chemical Plant

Hamas is now launching new kamikaze drones at Israel whose precision guidance and ability to maneuver make them much more dangerous than the thousands of rockets its fired.
www.forbes.com www.forbes.com

Mark this as happenings?

www.defensenews.com

Lasers, integration and mobility: Israel races to stop growing threat from drones

Israel’s defense companies are making a plethora of c-UAS systems, combining their expertise to benefit the country's multilayered air defense systems.
www.defensenews.com www.defensenews.com

www.defensenews.com

Are air defense systems ready to confront drone swarms?

In a region where the threat of drone swarms and low-altitude cruise missiles is particularly acute, countries are left to reexamine existing air defense technology.
www.defensenews.com www.defensenews.com


and this is what diplo types think
foreignpolicy.com

Killer Flying Robots Are Here. What Do We Do Now?

A new generation of AI-enabled drones could be used to terrible ends by rogue states, criminal groups, and psychopaths.
foreignpolicy.com foreignpolicy.com
 
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Though with that particular Air Marshal, I would take his statements with more than a pinch of salt.
 
www.thedrive.com

Jet-Powered Coyote Drone Defeats Swarm In Army Tests

Raytheon claims the Army used an unspecified "non-kinetic effector" aboard one of its Coyote drones to take down a swarm of ten hostile UAVs.
www.thedrive.com www.thedrive.com

Jet powered, recoverable, DEW equipped, anti-air, tube launched, swarming drones? What more check marks needed? (oh vtol meme and autonomy I guess)

Curious how does a jet powered coyote gets recovered and how much off board cueing is needed for various missions.
 
shin_getter said:
www.thedrive.com

Jet-Powered Coyote Drone Defeats Swarm In Army Tests

Raytheon claims the Army used an unspecified "non-kinetic effector" aboard one of its Coyote drones to take down a swarm of ten hostile UAVs.
www.thedrive.com www.thedrive.com

Jet powered, recoverable, DEW equipped, anti-air, tube launched, swarming drones? What more check marks needed? (oh vtol meme and autonomy I guess)

Curious how does a jet powered coyote gets recovered and how much off board cueing is needed for various missions.
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when ur already outnumbered one shot wonders wont do and no vtol.
The whole swarm w/ reloads lasts for less than the first 1/2 hr.
 
www.thedrive.com

Fatal Attack On Tanker Off Oman Blamed On Suicide Drone: Report

The attack on the Israeli-operated ship claimed two lives and comes amid a shadowy tit-for-tat maritime campaign being waged by Iran and Israel.
www.thedrive.com www.thedrive.com

www.reuters.com

Israel blames Iran for attack on ship, seeks harsh response

Israel on Friday accused Iran of having carried out an attack off Oman on a tanker managed by an Israeli-owned company and said a harsh response was needed.
www.reuters.com www.reuters.com

www.jpost.com

Sophisticated Iranian drones at fault for Israeli-linked tanker attack

The attack against the Israeli-owned tanker on Friday was carried out by precision-guided drone missiles, and are a step-up in Iran's use of drone warfare.
www.jpost.com www.jpost.com

Iranian source!
www.presstv.ir

Informed sources: Raid on Israeli-managed vessel was retaliation for Israeli raid on Syria

Informed sources have told Al-Alam television that an attack on an Israeli-managed petroleum products tanker off the coast of Oman in the Arabian Sea that killed two crew members was in response to an Israeli missile attack on Syria that killed two resistance forces.
www.presstv.ir www.presstv.ir

some other news
www.thedrive.com

New Swarming Capability Planned For The V-Bat Vertical Takeoff And Landing Drone

The V-Bat is getting a revolutionary AI brain, swarming capabilities, and there are plans to increase the drone's ability to work without GPS.
www.thedrive.com www.thedrive.com
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New normal. The technology in some sense isn't that interesting, the politics is the one with to watch. Will it spread to "unconstrained submarine warfare", stay restrained like "chemical warfare" or grow into something else completely?

What can be seen is that up this point this technology isn't limited total war scale and much hybrid sub-threshold games can be played. How much defenses will be demanded, or retaliation is considered acceptable. (and would this retaliation of this type result in a "duke franz ferdinand" event?) So much to speculate.

The capability of ICBM and geology of inter-continental distances defined the cold war. How would the demands of current conflicts drive offense and defenses? More destructive power? Ease of deployment? Improve defense penetration? Cost? Plausible deniability?

If only social sciences weren't so bad. :(
 
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Could this be a weaponized coyote? Looks like it might be a lot large to be that UAV, but they do have a truck mounted launcher for it.
 
TomcatViP said:
www.c4isrnet.com

Swarm grammar: DARPA to test whether single user can control 200 drones

Contractor Northrop Grumman is wants to transition this DARPA swarming program to the Army.
www.c4isrnet.com www.c4isrnet.com
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I'd argue numbers are irrelevant to swarm control, which makes this test a bit of a cloud-pleaser.

Swarms control themselves via their inbuilt logic, rather than the user assigning each a task. The user rather assigns the swarm as a whole the task and the swarm then organises itself to achieve it (and either it has enough assets to do it, or it doesn't).

TLDR: The significant thing here is the "swarm grammar" as a method of assigning tasks, the numbers are a distraction.
 
shin_getter said:
Yo I heard you like drones, I put drones on drones~
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Can't find more info on this, does anyone know where this is from?

Also this category of vehicle is absolutely necessary for drone swarms deployment, there is still a lot of relevant systems that is not fully developed. Rearm/refuel systems, launch systems, recovery systems, on board maintenance/repair capabilities, command and control and so on....should be a interesting field to watch
 

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