The military action update thread has an interesting side bar topic that I'd like to discuss. I worked in aerospace & flirted in defense a bit, but I never worked at a prime, only with subs and my BU specifically was avionics.
It is an interesting discussion. The federal procurement process is not easy, and it takes time. I expect that the Ukraine war has been an eye opener, and I'm not sure how quickly we've responded. The integration into our defense network is probably a large and costly program, and I'd even assume ongoing to some extent. Can we integrate this with a relatively cheap (hardware) drone? Are we attempting to do so? What's the reality of a "cheap" drone from a purchasing perspective for the US government? I also assume there are quality control & rules of engagement concerns that will always drive up the cost of each drone that we purchase. Anyone have non-classified info on where we are at right now from a drone perspective?
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OldArmy71 said:
I cannot conceive of the resources Iran must have used to build so many missiles and drones. It really is staggering.
jamey said:
The drones are like $20K, really cheap. A PAC3 missile is in the millions
ttu_85 said:
Yep bad math. very bad math. We need some new math- or to be more accurate bring back good math. Time to put American innovation to the test. Hunter killer drones, giant tracked multi barreled shot gunesk weapons for low flying drone swarms, Jammers, EMP, microwav emitters. Get creative America. Call the sci-fi writers and get ideas.
YouBet said:
What a fun job that would be. The hard part would be getting the cheap components in mass we no longer build and putting together the fabrication we no longer have.
It is an interesting discussion. The federal procurement process is not easy, and it takes time. I expect that the Ukraine war has been an eye opener, and I'm not sure how quickly we've responded. The integration into our defense network is probably a large and costly program, and I'd even assume ongoing to some extent. Can we integrate this with a relatively cheap (hardware) drone? Are we attempting to do so? What's the reality of a "cheap" drone from a purchasing perspective for the US government? I also assume there are quality control & rules of engagement concerns that will always drive up the cost of each drone that we purchase. Anyone have non-classified info on where we are at right now from a drone perspective?
