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Badloss t1_ja8k982 wrote

Reply to comment by adam_demamps_wingman in Anti-war partisans in Belarus claim to have damaged Russian plane | Belarus by Caratteraccio

The US Navy has lasers on their ships that could pretty effortlessly shoot down slow fragile drones

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paul_wi11iams t1_ja8ytyd wrote

> The US Navy has lasers on their ships that could pretty effortlessly shoot down slow fragile drones

Transposing to the current situation, the Belarus/Russians will surely figure out defenses an apply these, but they tie up personnel, generating a cost and a loss of effectiveness on the equipment defended.

This kind of military harassment strategy was used by the WW2 French resistance, and certainly dates deep back into history.

It also creates media noise, attracting attention where the adversary wants to remain discreet. And successfully so in this Russian "AWACS" case

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The69BodyProblem t1_ja8qw1c wrote

What's the range on those things? How long do they need to hut each target to knock it out? Once someone figures those numbers out it's fairly easy to figure out the number of drones needed to swamp that particular defensive system

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Badloss t1_ja8shyz wrote

That's true of any defense, but if the number is high enough then the attack is prohibitive. That's generally also why the high value targets like Carriers are sitting in the center of a web of ships that are all networked together.

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The69BodyProblem t1_ja8yxsp wrote

Fair, but drones are way cheaper then basically every other weapon system that could take down a warship. It's not something insurmountable, but will certainly require an adaptation of tactics.

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teeth_lurk_beneath t1_ja94z8a wrote

I highly doubt a suicide drone could take out a warship. You'd have to sneak it into ammo storage or something extremely precise.

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MassiveStallion t1_ja8wiac wrote

Drones have limited payloads and are usually one use.

The obvious counter is super all around heavy armor. Not to mention human wave tactics.

"Next guy picks up the rifle" is surprisingly valid with drone attacks. Frankly it's easier to swarm with lightly armed and poorly trained infantry than to build a done.

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The69BodyProblem t1_ja8yo83 wrote

Sure, but human waves aren't very effective against boats, which is what we were talking about. Drones are also a pretty good force multiplier, so if a country doesn't want to, or doesn't have the manpower for human waves they may serve a role there.

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