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0 pointsceejayoz11y ago0 comments

That's the "essentially" part. The key bit here is "cheap counter to the F-35 you can mass-produce in the hundreds or thousands for every F-35 you'll face".

Nothing says you can't have a few dozen/hundred drones with SAMs, either.

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greedo11y ago

But you can't handwave away the difference without understanding how it would affect the cost of your "cheap counter to the F-35." Do you know how much an AIM-120 costs? How much it weighs? How much reinforcement the wing structure of a drone would require to carry, launch and land with this weaponry?

mikeyouse11y ago

> AIM-120 cost

$300k - $400k

> How much it weighs?

152 kg

> How much reinforcement the wing structure of a drone would require to carry, launch and land with this weaponry?

According to General Atomics;

"With a 1,500 lb (680 kg) payload, its wings are 'more than sufficient' to mount larger air-to-air or air-to-surface missiles."

greedo11y ago

The last quote is for the Reaper, a new version of the Predator that costs 4x as much. $16m is much cheaper than a fighter jet, but when you start deploying them in swarms of 20:1 ratios, the numbers don't work.

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greedo11y ago

mikeyouse11y ago

> AIM-120 cost

$300k - $400k

> How much it weighs?

152 kg

> How much reinforcement the wing structure of a drone would require to carry, launch and land with this weaponry?

According to General Atomics;

"With a 1,500 lb (680 kg) payload, its wings are 'more than sufficient' to mount larger air-to-air or air-to-surface missiles."

greedo11y ago

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