Drones are one more weapon to plug into fleet intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities rather than a replacement for the more expensive and capable weapons that rely on the ISR.
Absolutely exploit the quality of cheapness that many air and sea drones provide fleets:
NATO is working to integrate emerging technologies like uncrewed surface vehicles and fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles into crisis planning through its latest major exercises in the Baltic and Mediterranean seas.
My issue has always been that the expensive ISR capabilities that NATO provides make Ukraine's air, surface, and undersea drones effective in the Black Sea. And the drones seen so dreamy because Ukraine has to rely on such cheap weapons rather than expensive Western weapons to fight the Russian navy there.
Cheap drones have mass going for them. But they can't replace the capabilities of the expensive weapons. Now what about using drones for point defense?
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NOTE: Photo from the article.
