Chinese MALE, HALE (and rotary, small, suicide) UAV/UCAV thread

[ACuriousPLAFan]

(Cross-posted from the 076 LHD thread.)

Allegedly a paper by 南航(??), likely a detailed study on U(C)AVs when performing auto-land on flat-decks (here assumed to be the 076 LHD).

The U(C)AV models listed in the paper are Wing Loong-2 (4200 kg), CH-6 (7800 kg) and GJ-11 (10000 kg). (Own comment: Perhaps these U(C)AV models will be the ones to serve on 076 LHDs in the future?)

Though, the metrics utilized for the study have been uniformized to 6000 kg, 8000 kg and 10000 kg respectively.

Posted by @伏尔戈星图 on Weibo. He also mentioned that the 076 LHD is likely to have 3 arresting wires onboard, since the numbers mentioned in the paper are all 3.




(Noted: The disclaimer applies, as usual.)

 

[by78]

A Nigerian Army's Blowfish A3 UAV on display.

 

[yeetmyboi]

There's apparently been customers at Zhuhai and similar conventions been asking if it's possible to counter drones with ramming drones, I guess someone really did come up with one. I wonder what sort of ram it has to be able to survive going through a sheet of glass at speed.

It may be dangerous to infantry if it can target their face.

Chinese-ed Coyote C-UAS? The concept has already been proven on Stryker C-UAS/MSHORAD Increment 2. Since the C-UAS version of Coyote has not been exported yet so developing one for the commercial market should be a steal. Maybe the Saudis will buy that.

Though one would imagine why have the drone do the kill when leveraging sensor fusion and networking would allow for multiple platforms to commit to these roles far more effectively. ALE spawned multi-mission payload compatible UAS-es like Altius-600M that can act as a airborne acquisition/cueing/observational node. E-APS looked at a modified Bushmaster 35mm using a lenghthened case with guided rounds and enhanced terminal effects ( AHEAD?).

Consolidating these efforts into a low-level C-UAS solution with energy/missile-based solutions as higher tiers of defense. Maybe build a PLA version of the AN/MPQ-64A4 for ground-based targeting ( larger system = more resolution), plugged into a PLA-ed IBCS. Could counter future USAF visions into

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[plawolf]

I am still betting they just buy the medium drone that can slung an automatic shotgun and just load it with birdshot as a cheap, reusable option to counter hobby drones that will also scale up easily and benefit from economies of scale if the army also buys loads of them for anti-personal work.

 

[tankphobia]

I am still betting they just buy the medium drone that can slung an automatic shotgun and just load it with birdshot as a cheap, reusable option to counter hobby drones that will also scale up easily and benefit from economies of scale if the army also buys loads of them for anti-personal work.

I don't see it, infantry on the ground is already abysmal at dealing with drones even with shotguns, I don't see how mounting a shotgun on a drone will be any different, especially now that you're also need tracking and a stabilised firing platform. Suicide fpv UAVs will do the same job but much more reliably.

 

[AndrewS]

I don't see it, infantry on the ground is already abysmal at dealing with drones even with shotguns, I don't see how mounting a shotgun on a drone will be any different, especially now that you're also need tracking and a stabilised firing platform. Suicide fpv UAVs will do the same job but much more reliably.

If you have a suicide FPV, it definitely has the accuracy to shoot pellets at point blank range

 

[tankphobia]

If you have a suicide FPV, it definitely has the accuracy to shoot pellets at point blank range

Suicide fpvs are a magnitude cheaper to produce than one able to shoot a moving target with a Shotgun while retaining any sort of accuracy.

 

[dingyibvs]

Suicide fpvs are a magnitude cheaper to produce than one able to shoot a moving target with a Shotgun while retaining any sort of accuracy.

It's not just cost, it's logistics and capabilities. If a single shotgun armed drone can take down dozens of FPV drones of Mavic's caliber then even if it costs a hundred times as much a modified Mavic it'd be worth it.

Storing, transporting, and charging dozens of Mavics can be quite a logistical burden. Using FPV suicide drones for this task means you need to support the logistics of at least as many drones as the enemy.

In addition, keeping your enemy from having good situational awareness also adds significantly to the value. If it can effectively eliminate FPV drones then cost doesn't really matter, because Mavic-like FPV drones would be as useless as a grain of rice. Would you rather to go to war with an expensive rifle or a bag of rice?

 

[Atomicfrog]

It's not just cost, it's logistics and capabilities. If a single shotgun armed drone can take down dozens of FPV drones of Mavic's caliber then even if it costs a hundred times as much a modified Mavic it'd be worth it.

Storing, transporting, and charging dozens of Mavics can be quite a logistical burden. Using FPV suicide drones for this task means you need to support the logistics of at least as many drones as the enemy.

In addition, keeping your enemy from having good situational awareness also adds significantly to the value. If it can effectively eliminate FPV drones then cost doesn't really matter, because Mavic-like FPV drones would be as useless as a grain of rice. Would you rather to go to war with an expensive rifle or a bag of rice?

You can also empty your ammo on infantry going home... still you need to see the other drone...

 

[tankphobia]

It's not just cost, it's logistics and capabilities. If a single shotgun armed drone can take down dozens of FPV drones of Mavic's caliber then even if it costs a hundred times as much a modified Mavic it'd be worth it.

Storing, transporting, and charging dozens of Mavics can be quite a logistical burden. Using FPV suicide drones for this task means you need to support the logistics of at least as many drones as the enemy.

In addition, keeping your enemy from having good situational awareness also adds significantly to the value. If it can effectively eliminate FPV drones then cost doesn't really matter, because Mavic-like FPV drones would be as useless as a grain of rice. Would you rather to go to war with an expensive rifle or a bag of rice?

So your opponent instead chooses to use the suicide fpv uav method and just crash a drone into your expensive shotgun drone. A drone carrying a shotgun and associated ammo is really not all that agile. You can't get something that carry a gun and fire it accurately cheaper than the $500 or so it cost for a suicide fpv uav. You can probably fit upwards of 10-15 such drones in a standard backpack and hundreds in a small van, there really is no situation where this is viable or cost effective.

If you're going to use some non-existent shotgun drone why not just invest in laser shorad which is a much more proven technology?