News

US Army Tests New Drone Swarm

A small view of the drones used in the exerciseA small view of the drones used in the exercise

The latest drone test exercise run by the US Army was different to most, in that instead of showcasing a brand new multi-million-dollar aircraft, it instead used a swarm of standard off-the-shelf consumer drones.

The objects of these exercises were twofold. Firstly, deploying the drones as a swarm to simulate a threat and later testing the possibility of utilizing the same cheap swarms in military operations. This would allow the US Army to adapt to the potential threats of consumer drones when used against their forces and develop countermeasures against these tactics.

The exercises included a combat simulation with a swarm of drones supporting the opposing forces, who used them to spot enemy defensive positions, allowing their forces to gain a tactical advantage against them. Another test was flooding the airspace with drones, disrupting radar with dozens of small airborne objects.

Individually, a single consumer drone is no match for any one of the combat drones used by the US Army in it’s current operations, being far more vulnerable to both gunfire and jamming. However, with costs of up to 100-times less than this specialist hardware, it becomes far more feasible to deploy large numbers, as well as allowing them to be more disposable. Shooting down one small drone is easy. Shooting down one hundred is far less achievable. And with the potential for these consumer drones to be customized relatively cheaply with longer range equipment, night-vision and similar sensors and even weaponry, consumer drones seem to be gaining a place in modern warfare.

Can you imagine the toys you see on shelves everywhere now, being deployed in war, and will this change the face of the low-cost drone market? Only time will tell.

Alexander Neil

Disqus Comments Loading...

Recent Posts

LG 27″ 27GS60QC-B 2560×1440 VA 180Hz 1ms A-Sync HDR10 Curved Widescreen Gaming Monitor

Natural curve, 1000R is just the beginning. It's a gaming revolution with satisfying 180Hz speed,…

4 hours ago

ASUS ROG Azoth 75 RGB Wireless Gaming Keyboard White Frame

ROG Azoth gaming keyboard with 75 keyboard form factor, gasket mount, three-layer dampening foam and…

4 hours ago

AOC 27″ Q27G4X 2560×1440 IPS 180Hz 1ms FreeSync Gaming Monitor

Introducing the Q27G4X, a fusion of gaming excellence and cutting-edge technology. Dive into yourself in…

4 hours ago

Kingston Fury Beast 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-28800C17 3600MHz Dual Channel Kit

ColourPrimary ColourBlackSecondary ColourGreySetSetYesNumber of products in set2LightingLighting / RGBNoCooler SpecificationsHeatsink includedYesMemoryMemory size (total)16 GBMemory TypeDDR4Memory…

4 hours ago

Kolink Rocket Heavy Vented Edition Aluminium Mini-ITX Case

New and improved Kolink Rocket Heavy with additional venting Mini-ITX case manufactured from premium materials…

4 hours ago

ASRock Confirms Full Support for Ryzen 9 9950X3D and Ryzen 9 9900X3D CPUs

ASRock has officially announced that its AM5 motherboards will fully support the new AMD Ryzen…

4 hours ago