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I fought in Ukraine and here's why FPV drones kind of suck

(warontherocks.com)
183 points _tk_ | 1 comments | 26 Jun 25 10:11 UTC | HN request time: 0.284s | source
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smcameron ◴[26 Jun 25 17:11 UTC] No.44389267[source]▶
> If this type of pre-aborted mission is included in the total, the success rate drops to between 20 and 30 percent. On the face of it, this success rate is bad ...

I disagree with this premise. I suspect that 20 to 30% success rate is not at all bad, but rather excellent. Compare to artillery with shells costing a few thousand each on the low end, to $100k+ for more advanced rounds, with 100s or 1000s fired per casualty.

replies(1): >>44390485 #
1. rich_sasha ◴[26 Jun 25 19:28 UTC] No.44390485[source]▶
The article claims it is 20-30% in quite limited circumstances, and less if you include "we know it will fail" sorties. And seemingly entirely disabled by jammers, where available.

I guess they must be working for Ukraine, or it wouldn't be buying them. But how well they scale against a competent opponent is less clear.