But these drones have a mortar shell attached to the bottom of it. So the additional weight and changed center of gravity will make it more of a challenge.

That said, I got the pleasure of seeing one of these drone acrobats practice with one of his drones close to where I live. The thought I kept having was.. no wonder these things are so deadly.. fast, agile, and loud when close but the sound quickly dissapates when more than 20 or 30m away.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Maybe someday more advanced batteries (or lighter munitions) will allow for what I'm imagining. Also, a hex drone might have the grunt to carry a payload and maintain agility. The cost goes up with six motors though, of course. I'm just intrigued to see how this technology reshapes 21st century combat. The hellish Benny Hill chase videos are fun though I must admit

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Would a shape charge or a small claymore (less weight but more directed explosion) be a good compromise? More manuverable but need to be more precise. Instead of being within a meter of the target, you have to be looking at the target and detonate. I guess it would be a modern version of grapeshot or shotgun.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

It depends on how common guys like this are. Literally mind bending maneuverability is possible with quadcopters... For a price; It comes down to how much you want to spend killing one soldier though. I've been reading some things about the Ukrainian ones, and I get it now.

Their mindset is more focused on price performers, detonating more than 100 commercial off-the-shelf drones daily, without even bothering to harden them against EW. This has hampered their range significantly, but they don't mind. Under normal circumstances a quadcopter can range a few km, but in this warzone it's closer to 500m.

Pilots like the one above are rare enough that you need a great reason to put them in a warzone. Quadcopters like the ones he uses aren't cheap, either. I think Ukraine is doing incredible work and approaching their task correctly, on review. I come at this from a hobbyist perspective, which sees higher skill levels but is currently a lot less practical in warfare terms.