Why aren't pulsejet cruise missiles a thing?

ram jets need supersonic speeds to produce any reasonalble power (Lorin types work sumbsonic, but are very unefficient) and produce zero thrust with no/low speeds. You can surly built cheap ram jets, but I doubt that you could built cheap supersonic drones for controled flight.

Puls jets could also be started from a runway, they produce significant thrust at zero speed.
 
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Orionblamblam said:
It's unclear that that's true. A cheap pulsejet drone would have longer range than an equivalent cheap solid rocket missile... but without a fairly complex control system, those drones are going to be all over the place at long range. One virtue of being relatively short ranged is that rocket missiles can saturate a target such as a city.
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Of course, that cheap pulsejet drone would likely need a solid rocket booster to launch it, at least from the ground, a helicopter, a ship, or a boat.
 
1635yankee said:
Of course, that cheap pulsejet drone would likely need a solid rocket booster to launch it, at least from the ground, a helicopter, a ship, or a boat.
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Yes. which means you already have to build a fairly substantial solid rocket. Why not make it a bit bigger and put a warhead on it?
 
I don't agree, a pulse jet drone could start from a runway just like the Saheed drones, it produces thrust at zero speed.

There are tactical reasons for not using runways but its not impossible.
 
I could see one as a drone carrier.

Drones don't have much legs.

Usually, the bigger aircraft releases smaller weapons....this may invert things. The drones have good avionics...and tell it's pulse-jet ride what to hit?
 

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