Message posted by Smythers (Member since 04/27/2023) on July 16, 2023 at 8:44:00 PST:
But where did it come from? Well, it has a decidedly strange source: Fire fighting. Yes, forest fire mitigation tactics that translated into what is, right now, the single most effective swarming system on earth. Let me explain a little. Forest fires as you will all know, present a fluid, dynamic and unpredictable foe - one moment it can be damping down and you think that you are winning, then a weather front switches and you are back into the fight. An ever flowing foe who's front line is forever shifting. So what did China do? Allowed the drones to work by themselves, for themselves, inside their given remit, and what is mind blowing? These suckers even come back, refuel, reload with retardant, and head back into the fight without a human operator being involved in anything bar acting as an observer across thousands of feeds. It is genius in its simplicity. The drones know that heat is bad and flames are worse, and they want to slow and even stop the spread. In order then to achieve that aim, they work in a sweeping collaboration that sees the drones making the calls. Not the operator, the drones. And it is wickedly effective to the point that forest fires stand little to no chance of spreading as 50,000 retardant laden craft swoop in, create their havoc, and stay in the fight until it is done. Done. They have one aim and one instruction: Stop heat in map grid XXXX XXXX. Do this until you succeed. Repeat till area is cold. Good luck with that.
Fun fact: China's absolute masterclass in technology (where I frankly have to doff my hat in respect) comes from their unmanned swarm efforts, where, frankly, the Chinese are at the absolute pinnacle globally.
Now swap that logic and collaboration into a drone system that can dump grenades on heat maps made by humans and not fires, with each drone dropping a 100lb HE charge every single time with inch accurate impact circles. Add bigger drones with heavier payloads.
And now you see why area denial electromagnetic weaponry is some of the DoD estates top priorities, as China in a land warfare scenario right now? Could take Taiwan with nothing but a cloud of 500,000 smart as a whip UAVs.
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