• Voroxpete@sh.itjust.works
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    1 day ago

    This theory comes up every now and then, and they always refuse to answer what happens to your manpower when you shift to cheap, disposable weapons.

    Because the answer, of course, is that those cheap, disposable weapons need cheap, disposable humans to operate them.

    That’s what this is advocating for; human wave tactics.

    This whole argument was litigated multiple times over, long before drones became a thing, and the expensive hardware approach keeps coming out on top. Tanks got taken out by anti-tank guns, so we developed better tanks and better tactics. Planes got taken out by missiles, so we developed better planes and better tactics. The same thing is already happening with drones.

    • BigPotato@lemmy.world
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      21 hours ago

      There’s a very clear reason why both those jets fell into the ocean and it’s disingenuous to pretend like there’s no reason.

      The crew wants to get out of the AO before it gets hot and high profile losses are a great way to get called back to port.

    • gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works
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      1 day ago

      The reason they’re continuing to buy them is that the assembly line needs to maintain a minimum level of production, otherwise all the staff and expertise and tooling and machinery goes away. And then whenever they are actually needed, it becomes impossible to scale up, because everyone who knows how to make the fucking things has gotten another job or retired.

      It’s not plug-and-play. It’s frustrating, and yes, wasteful, but if you actually do give a shit about defense policy, there is a specific logistical reason for why this is done.

      • ragepaw@lemmy.ca
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        24 hours ago

        If you read that article, that point was made.

        And they said, you could maintain the minimum level of production by foreign owners alone.

          • ragepaw@lemmy.ca
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            21 hours ago

            Yeah… now…

            I’m in one of those countries that you’re being a dick to.

            This is an issue going back at least 2 decades. Probably more. That’s just when I became aware of it.

      • opus86@lemmy.today
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        1 day ago

        I ran across some of the most incompetent, idiots in the military. They kept re-enlisting every four years because they wouldn’t make it on the outside. The problem was they had been in long enough to hold the middle ranks.

    • frezik@midwest.social
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      1 day ago

      The Abrams works unreasonably well against other tanks. There is a question about how any tank stands up to drones, though.

      • ragepaw@lemmy.ca
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        24 hours ago

        The point is not whether it’s good or not. The Army told the govenrment multiple times, they don’t need them and they are being wasted.

    • el_bhm@lemm.ee
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      1 day ago

      Fpv drones are about that price. Produced en mass more likely closer to 500. But