Quote:
Originally Posted by Shaun @ Tru6
Billions spent and quite some time, I expect a little more. I managed the financial side of DoD SBIR contracts with Navy, AF and Army 30+ years ago making parts for the Stealth Bomber and such. I know how inefficient the government can be though some contracts were managed very well.
I guess I'm saying I expect more given the resources poured into this weapon system.
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All fair points.
Ukraine was very different, especially early when ITAR (
https://www.exportsolutionsinc.com/itar/compliance/?msclkid=d17d825e52711de2745ce5543d9aff81&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=US%20-%20ITAR&utm_term=itar%20compliance&utm_content=Compliance) was still very difficult.
Still is.
Swarm is now easy and the technology is there but the Ukraine's price point was literally cardboard aircraft: Crude but effective. Most large companies simply could not not, and in many cases still can't, wrap their old business models around small UAS. My company designs the air vehicles, and they are spectacular, but we do not do sensors.
We worked with two points of contact in Ukraine, one very well known, and we simply could not meet their price or urgency...our systems in development were meant to tackle a much different tactical problem than close-in warfare.
SWARM defeat is a huge issue for all ground and sea forces...we call them airborne IED's. Tether, elevated platforms are getting a lot of attention.
As they say, horses for courses.