Bremen posted:

I once saw a review of a camera drone with automated person following capability. As in you tossed it in the air and it followed over your shoulder as you walked around, not because it was directed, but because it recognized you. This was a dinner plate sized, $400-500 or so drone.

My immediate thought was "put a pistol on that thing and build a million of them and that's a terrifying weapon if you don't care about being indiscriminate."

Shifty Pony posted:

I suspect that we're in a situation similar to the invention of the machine gun where a new technology has popped up that disrupts established tactics but equipment to counter it haven't yet been refined.

In some hypothetical future war I expect that launching a commercial drone will be useless at best (because anything or anybody of interest will be carrying systems to alert them to the presence and jamming equipment will be plentiful) or suicidal at worst (due to the existence of some sort of small-scale HARM that will beeline toward the control unit that you are holding).

Hieronymous Alloy posted:

It'll be autonomous ai controlled swarms against each other. Friendly fire isn't acceptable in a self driving car but as long as it's minimal It'll be acceptable in war. Front toward enemy.

quote:

Launched in 2017, the OFFensive Swarm-Enabled Tactics (OFFSET) program aims to develop an ecosystem of unmanned ground and aerial vehicles available to small infantry units that can be deployed as swarms of up to 250 units towards the accomplishment of various tasks in complex, urban terrain. The final goal is the development of a system of “swarm tactics” responsive to human commands enabled through algorithms. The whole swarm would fall under the command of a single team consisting of a “swarm commander” and an operator.

The project’s manager, Timothy Chung, was very positive about the advancements made over the past four years and about the test itself. He stated that the test and wider program demonstrated that “these swarm capabilities are rapidly nearing availability for future operations”. Chung also emphasized that the program developed not just advanced capabilities but also a swarm capability community.

John Watson, who leads the Fort Campbell Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security, provided additional details on what the capabilities demonstrated by the field test will mean for future soldiers.

“If a unit is coming up into a densely populated urban area, they could use a swarm of unmanned aircraft systems to go and do a reconnaissance. Instead of having to send soldiers in there and spend manpower and other resources, you can send your drones in there to do that reconnaissance and validate threats. […] To do a reconnaissance of Cassidy would probably take a company plus of soldiers to do, or a battalion minus, whereas if this technology is fully developed, one soldier is all it takes to control the swarm and do the reconnaissance. And one of the future technologies they’re talking about is being able to pair human and swarm teaming and use part of the swarm to breach a door, so if you think there’s a threat in the building you can use them to breach the door instead of a soldier.”

Northrop Grumman Mission Systems and Raytheon BBN Technologies participated in the test as Swarm System integrators; their role was to develop open architecture which enables the swarm operations concept. Sentien Robotics and Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, meanwhile, demonstrated platforms that can be integrated as part of the swarm. The Michigan Tech Research Institute virtually demonstrated new “acoustic spoofing payload and see-through-wall sensing payload capabilities” which are expected to be further tested in early 2022.

Eric Cantonese posted:

Were drones going into Ukraine being made at that base? I assume you're talking about this Israeli strike:

https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east...c7-1fb0384f0000

Dapper_Swindler posted:

https://mobile.twitter.com/Taniel/status/1584561542737326082 That seems like dumb and bad optics.

Dapper_Swindler posted:

That seems like dumb and bad optics.

Dapper_Swindler posted:

https://mobile.twitter.com/carlquintanilla/status/1584606451905200128?s=20&t=3zejqp1XIxnQyhT45oM-sA That seems like dumb and bad optics.

FishBulbia posted:

Negotiation is usually something you do during war to try to achieve your goals. For a while now people have used "negotiation" as a euphemism for surrender, both people calling for it and denouncing it. A good faith effort to resolve or at least stop the war, coupled with continued military aid, is a good policy.

FishBulbia posted:

Negotiation is usually something you do during war to try to achieve your goals. For a while now people have used "negotiation" as a euphemism for surrender, both people calling for it and denouncing it. A good faith effort to resolve or at least stop the war, coupled with continued military aid, is a good policy.

Dapper_Swindler posted:

https://mobile.twitter.com/carlquintanilla/status/1584606451905200128?s=20&t=3zejqp1XIxnQyhT45oM-sA That seems like dumb and bad optics.

FishBulbia posted:

Negotiation is usually something you do during war to try to achieve your goals. For a while now people have used "negotiation" as a euphemism for surrender, both people calling for it and denouncing it. A good faith effort to resolve or at least stop the war, coupled with continued military aid, is a good policy.

Saint Celestine posted:

How does one, in good faith, negotiate with Putin here? I.e. in what scenario does diplomacy cause Russian troops to leave just Ukraine, let alone Crimea?

I don't think there is a diplomatic solution here.

steinrokkan posted:

How can you have good faith negotiations if only one side is interested?

mobby_6kl posted:

But why should Biden negotiate a ceasefire on Ukraine's behalf, what is that going to achieve?

Pook Good Mook posted:

It's almost certain that the US and/or "the West" has told Putin that they will withdraw most of the economic sanctions if Russia withdraws to its own borders

Cicero posted:

But everyone knows that there's zero chance of Russia withdrawing out of Crimea and the Donbas, so what's the point?

If Russia signals at some point they may be willing to fully withdraw in exchange for loosening sanctions, then sure, try diplomacy, but until then it just seems like a waste of effort and a distraction.

Cicero posted:

But everyone knows that there's zero chance of Russia withdrawing out of Crimea and the Donbas, so what's the point?

If Russia signals at some point they may be willing to fully withdraw in exchange for loosening sanctions, then sure, try diplomacy, but until then it just seems like a waste of effort and a distraction.

FishBulbia posted:

Fight them until they are willing to come to the table, essentially how every war before 1945 was ended.

Pook Good Mook posted:

Oh of course, you're not wrong.

"The left's" problem in this is that they assume that both sides will act in good faith. It's decorum poisoned.

This is easy for me to say because I'm not fighting in it, but sometimes you have to fight a war. All our idealistic systems can't fix everything.

steinrokkan posted:

FishBulbia posted:

If tomorrow Russian forces collapsed back to their borders, then that would still not be a total victory for Ukraine, Russia will still be there, and still have the capability to attempt this a few years later. Maybe inducting Ukraine into NATO the moment Russian forces leave its territory? But that seems unlikely, and I can't see some certain central European powers agreeing to that.

OAquinas posted:

Funny thing about mutual defensive pacts--they can exist outside NATO.
But yeah, that'd be an upwards climb. Russia could try again of course, but Ukraine NOW is blunting their entire military. Just imagine how it'd handle them in 5 years with full investment in western weapons and armor...though again, that's tempered by the insane debt and rebuilding costs they'll have to do.

It's a shitshow.

Rad Russian posted:

US congressmen should just come out and say yes or no to more aid and then shut up.

Eric Cantonese posted:

I hope it isn't terribly off-topic to state this, but some of these people are also the ones who drag their feet on condemning Iran while clawing at each other trying to put the boot in on the Saudis. It's a very annoying pattern among legislators I otherwise usually like a great deal.

Let's take a look at the letter itself...

https://twitter.com/QuincyInst/status/1584616518469312512/photo/1

Yup. Cori Bush, AOC, Ilhan Omar and Ayanna Pressley are among the signatories.

The wording's not quite "make Ukraine surrender," but it's definitely showing that we're getting closer to a western breaking point, which is exactly what Putin is counting on.

Feliday Melody posted:

Of course, Russia might reform their military, like the Soviets did after the winter war with Finland.

Then in 5 or 10 years the headshot against Kiev might succeed.

GSV gently caress Your God posted:

I don't think public polling is indicative of a western breaking point. These representatives simply are the usual suspects (as you say).

Rad Russian posted:

There's nothing wrong with negotiation as a concept. Negotiating DIRECTLY with USA is exactly what Russia wants as that feeds into their propaganda of Ukraine being a puppet gov't with no agency.

Young Freud posted:

It's the same rationale behind leaving the negotiations between the Republic of Korea and the DPRK. Only a fool would negotiate (see Trump) would interfere and negotiate the sovereignty of an ally, because that's what Kim Jung Un and Putin want, for a superpower to negotiate away a weaker country.

Feliday Melody posted:

We shouldn't underestimate how cheap mass-produced military drones could be when compared to aircraft. Not to mention sparring trained pilots etc.


A $3000 drone with the explosive power of a hand grenade could make a world of difference to infantry.

SaTaMaS posted:

The US sent this over, it's called Switchblade 300

Eric Cantonese posted:

I hope it isn't terribly off-topic to state this, but some of these people are also the ones who drag their feet on condemning Iran while clawing at each other trying to put the boot in on the Saudis. It's a very annoying pattern among legislators I otherwise usually like a great deal.

Let's take a look at the letter itself...

https://twitter.com/QuincyInst/status/1584616518469312512/photo/1

Yup. Cori Bush, AOC, Ilhan Omar and Ayanna Pressley are among the signatories.

The wording's not quite "make Ukraine surrender," but it's definitely showing that we're getting closer to a western breaking point, which is exactly what Putin is counting on.

quote:

Given these highly specialised technical skills, it seemed plausible that the GVC may be linked to programming the flight paths of Russia’s cruise missiles. Therefore Bellingcat obtained phone metadata records of the highest ranking individual publicly named as its director: Maj. Gen. Baranov. This method is similar to that employed by Bellingcat to track and trace the poisoners of Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny, with data purchased from brokers who commonly offer such services. While this method would be impossible in most countries, Russia’s black market for data has helped journalists and activists piece together numerous significant investigations into the country’s military and secret services in recent years.

Eric Cantonese posted:

I hope it isn't terribly off-topic to state this, but some of these people are also the ones who drag their feet on condemning Iran while clawing at each other trying to put the boot in on the Saudis. It's a very annoying pattern among legislators I otherwise usually like a great deal.

Let's take a look at the letter itself...

https://twitter.com/QuincyInst/status/1584616518469312512/photo/1

Yup. Cori Bush, AOC, Ilhan Omar and Ayanna Pressley are among the signatories.

The wording's not quite "make Ukraine surrender," but it's definitely showing that we're getting closer to a western breaking point, which is exactly what Putin is counting on.

Eric Cantonese posted:

I hope it isn't terribly off-topic to state this, but some of these people are also the ones who drag their feet on condemning Iran while clawing at each other trying to put the boot in on the Saudis. It's a very annoying pattern among legislators I otherwise usually like a great deal.

Let's take a look at the letter itself...

https://twitter.com/QuincyInst/status/1584616518469312512/photo/1

Yup. Cori Bush, AOC, Ilhan Omar and Ayanna Pressley are among the signatories.

The wording's not quite "make Ukraine surrender," but it's definitely showing that we're getting closer to a western breaking point, which is exactly what Putin is counting on.