US special ops just got 350 kamikaze drones to fight ISIS in Iraq

[Theinquisition]

http://www.businessinsider.com/us-sp...in-iraq-2017-5

Awesome, these man guided kamikaze drones will be great at taking out individual targets with little collateral damage.

After an urgent request earlier this year, US special forces were just given 350 kamikaze drone missiles to help fight ISIS in Iraq, Defense One reported.

The drones, called Switchblades, are fired from bazooka-like launchers and have cameras and a cursor-on-target GPS navigation. They can stay airborne for approximately 15 minutes and at speeds up to 100 MPH.

AeroVironment, which makes the Switchblades, describes them as a "miniature flying lethal missile" that can be "operated manually or autonomously."

After an urgent request earlier this year, US special forces were just given 350 kamikaze drone missiles to help fight ISIS in Iraq, Defense One reported.

The drones, called Switchblades, are fired from bazooka-like launchers and have cameras and a cursor-on-target GPS navigation. They can stay airborne for approximately 15 minutes and at speeds up to 100 MPH.

AeroVironment, which makes the Switchblades, describes them as a "miniature flying lethal missile" that can be "operated manually or autonomously."

This is how adaptive the enemy was,” Thomas said. “About five or six months ago, it was a day that the Iraqi effort almost came to a screeching halt. Literally in the span of 24 hours, there were up to 70 drones in the air. At one time, 12 ‘killer bees,’ if you will, right overhead.”

Around that time, SOCOM started working with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab to convert IED detectors and jammers into drone jammers.

[ParanoiD84]

Very nice indeed.

[Azadina]

Very nice indeed.

Nicer than the copypaste job anyway

[ParanoiD84]

Nicer than the copypaste job anyway

lol, they should strap some go pros on those suckers so we can see isis getting fucked, cant get enough of those kind of videos

[bladeXcrasher]

lol, they should strap some go pros on those suckers so we can see isis getting fucked, cant get enough of those kind of videos

Why would they do that...they already have cameras...

[ParanoiD84]

Why would they do that...they already have cameras...

Those are for targeting not for the public to see. I want to see the footage.

I guess they could capture and record on those to though.

I love all those drone footage clip from syria/iraq and these would be awesome as well.

[Independent voter]

I guess these things will be the preferred weapon of Skynet too when Skynet goes rogue and tries to wipe out the human race.

[Azadina]

I guess these things will be the preferred weapon of Skynet too when Skynet goes rogue and tries to wipe out the human race.

If I was AI, and wanted to kill the human race, I'd just develop biological weapons. Why destroy usable infrastructure for no reason.

[bladeXcrasher]

Those are for targeting not for the public to see. I want to see the footage.

I guess they could capture and record on those to though.

If these are fired from shoulder mounted launchers, they aren't large. You couldn't put a go pro on them. someone will undoubtedly record and leak this.

[ParanoiD84]

If these are fired from shoulder mounted launchers, they aren't large. You couldn't put a go pro on them. someone will undoubtedly record and leak this.

Would be pretty sick to see and yeah i missed the part that they are launched from bazooka like launchers.

[P for Pancetta]

If these are fired from shoulder mounted launchers, they aren't large. You couldn't put a go pro on them. someone will undoubtedly record and leak this.

yeah it would be pretty tough to get a go-pro on there.

[Thoughtful Trolli]

If I was AI, and wanted to kill the human race, I'd just develop biological weapons. Why destroy usable infrastructure for no reason.

Your failure is thinking you know the AI agenda. Destroying the inefficient infrastructures of ants is exceptionally preferential, especially since the death of said ants will be a passive acquisition. Salvage is more readily available among wreckage rather than woven in structure.

Expect these kamikaze drones to have a significantly higher priority than blood-borne pathogens.

[King Shark]

Your failure is thinking you know the AI agenda. Destroying the inefficient infrastructures of ants is exceptionally preferential, especially since the death of said ants will be a passive acquisition. Salvage is more readily available among wreckage rather than woven in structure.

Expect these kamikaze drones to have a significantly higher priority than blood-borne pathogens.

Would still be a complete waste of time and resources. Skynet will stick to the tried and true method of nuclear fire.

OT: Christopher Titus is a fucking prophet.

[Deleted]

"Little collateral damage" is fine, I guess?

[hrugner]

I like this slow move away from capturable armaments.

[Video Games]

Please tell me they scream deus vult right before impact.

[Easo]

"Little collateral damage" is fine, I guess?

1. One has to be a fool to believe that there can be no collateral damage in any war. No one has the technical capability to avoid it.
2. Western world actually is very good at keeping said damage to minimum. Good example is to simply look at casuality reports, starting with 20th century until nowadays.

[Deleted]

I like this slow move away from capturable armaments.

Surely single use munitions like this represent a significantly higher cost than multiple use weapons?

What advantage do these bring over conventional drones, mortars or some other theoretical weapon?

[Deleted]

http://www.businessinsider.com/us-sp...in-iraq-2017-5

Awesome, these man guided kamikaze drones will be great at taking out individual targets with little collateral damage.

These drones require boots on the ground to use. Most collateral damage occurs in scenarios where there aren't boots on the ground, so it won't help much with that.

This is more like a sniper rifle that doesn't require line of sight.

[Allybeboba]

I wouldn't call 100 MPH exactly missle like speed. Better than sending troops in that's for sure.