US UAV and UCAV Technology

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So that’s why Trump changed his stance on Ukraine: somebody managed to convince him they need Ukraine’s drone technology. Which might very well be true, or some clever generals figured this was a way to convince Trump and manipulate him into doing something that’s in America’s interest.
 
Q-nimbus said:
So that’s why Trump changed his stance on Ukraine: somebody managed to convince him they need Ukraine’s drone technology. Which might very well be true, or some clever generals figured this was a way to convince Trump and manipulate him into doing something that’s in America’s interest.
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I think the massive UAV attacks on Ukraine also undercut any claims of there being a peace process. But yes, I think the idea of Europeans paying for US weapons combined with making a successful deal with Ukraine made isolationism less attractive.
 
According to Ukrainian analysis of downed drones, the only things made in Russia are the airframes (composite with polyurethane foam filler) and the GLONASS systems. Everything else is imported from China or from Europe through China at a sizable markup. Either way, the US will need to combine the LUCAS with even cheaper decoys and more jam-resistant equivalents if they expect to field this against anyone with Russian or Chinese backing, let alone Russia or China themselves.
 
Well, the markup is the consequence of the reflected value. I would have a hard time believing that a drone that in effect directly compete with Russian Strategic aviation would be sold for cheap...
 
Explorer121 said:
According to Ukrainian analysis of downed drones, the only things made in Russia are the airframes (composite with polyurethane foam filler) and the GLONASS systems. Everything else is imported from China or from Europe through China at a sizable markup. Either way, the US will need to combine the LUCAS with even cheaper decoys and more jam-resistant equivalents if they expect to field this against anyone with Russian or Chinese backing, let alone Russia or China themselves.
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That depends on how many they intend to deploy against who and what the end goal is. For the U.S., I could easily see the goal simply being decoys and SEAD - giving an iADS something to shoot at for a window of time while other assets completed their mission. For Russia, it is becoming almost their primary offensive kinetic weapon. The counts of cruise and ballistic missiles seem to have plateaued while UAV use increased.
 
Forest Green said:
Mass production will have reduced unit costs but still >$100k.
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Yeah no, that's definitely not the case, lmao. Even the newer models with superior targeting and guidance which can be used to strike individual vehicles and targets aren't anywhere near 100K lol. Russia launches well over 100 a night, on some north of 400 drones, moving to an alleged goal of 1000 drone strike packages you don't do that with 100K per drone.

Not only that, what exactly do you think makes this 100K? These are cheap with regards to resources used, using off the shelf components and using (now) mass produced airframes which aren't made from titanium or other space age stuff, but common composites.

Russia has plenty of cheap manufacturing and produces these now for years on a large scale domestically. Thinking they somehow pay more per drone than the US where even artillery shells are an expensive affair is just not in the realm of possibility.

Quite frankly, when I read that the US produces their copy for 30-40K I cannot help but think they'll end up paying waaaaaay more than that per drone. Americans can't do cheap, Americans aren't cheap thus American labor is waaaaaay too expensive, manufacturing anything in the US is a terribly expensive undertaking. So unless they use off the shelf components, have huge automated assembly lines and literal slave labor I don't see the US coming close to the 30K mark, which is already more expensive than the Russian equivalent according to some estimates.
 
There are already US turbofan/turbojet driven missiles in the $150,000-$400,000 price range - Red Wolf, Rusty Dagger, CMMT, Barracuda 500, others. The U.S. is very much on the verge of doing cheap in huge quantities across services, though generally through non traditional/start up companies rather than the big primes.
 
An addendum to the above post: the companies building these weapons are addressing costs by using commercial components (as the Russians have for years before the war out of necessity) and reducing labor time and complexity. Anduril for instance claims they only use a dozen common tools for assembly and that anyone who has worked a manufacturing line can easily transition to their weapons assembly effort. 3D printing removes complex machining where possible, and soon will likely include engine production.

New weapons start ups are lowering costs to some degree by removing labor, the highest cost associated with U.S. production.
 
EmoBirb said:
Yeah no, that's definitely not the case, lmao. Even the newer models with superior targeting and guidance which can be used to strike individual vehicles and targets aren't anywhere near 100K lol. Russia launches well over 100 a night, on some north of 400 drones, moving to an alleged goal of 1000 drone strike packages you don't do that with 100K per drone.
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Sure you can, 10 Kh-101s are probably as expensive.
 
Forest Green said:
Sure you can, 10 Kh-101s are probably as expensive.
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I am guessing oh-101 is ballpark a million like AGM-158. So probably not a thousand Gerans, unless they have pushed costs to $10,000 which IMO seems unlikely with the current upgrades and sanctioned western parts.
 
The AS-15 Kent must easily cost at least a million dollars per copy.
 
NG UAV carrier concept from Q2 2025 earnings call video
 

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Is that an open bomb bay with weapons mounted both in the bay and on the doors?

I would be surprised if there was not already something like this planned. XQ-58 successfully launched an ALTIUS 600 3-4 years ago, and I would think you could fit 8 in that bay. Class 1 UAVs that folded like Anduril Bolt should not be especially difficult.
 
Looks like it powered with a DLE 222 4-cylinder (Chinese) engine with velocity stacks that runs about 2500usd.

Oh, how the mighty has fallen.........................................

Regards,
 
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Don't worry everyone, Cummings Aerospace is going to produce 100 loitering drones per month. (Ukraine produces 200k drones per month of all type.)

www.defensenews.com

Cummings fine-tunes Hellhound drone for Golden Dome mission

Cummings Aerospace has designed a larger version of its Hellhound to meet Golden Dome homeland missile defense needs.
www.defensenews.com www.defensenews.com
 
Halcyon66 said:
Looks like it powered with a DLE 222 4-cylinder (Chinese) engine with velocity stacks that runs about 2500usd.

Oh, how the mighty has fallen.........................................

Regards,
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I was wondering which one it was,as it sure as hell wasnt an L550,but thats really not surprising considering the huge price difference between them.
Still,you`d have thought the manufacturer would`ve at least made the effort in the interests of solidarity to buy western.;)
 
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DA-200

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Made in the US, yet China is still cheaper.

Regards,
 

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