Comment on WAR! What is it good for?
Carmakazi@piefed.social 11 hours agoThe idea that skrangly gamers are going to dominate wars from their basements using remote weapons is kind of a silly cope. Ukraine isn’t throwing out their rifles or tanks or anything just because drones exist. Drone warfare isn’t rendering all conventional warfare obsolete, it’s supplementing it and forcing it to evolve in its consideration.
99% of 2A types are simply not ready for warfare of any kind through, and that goes beyond just the considerations of drones.
Yeah, conventional military force is still in use but supposably over 80% of kills in Ukraine are done with drones, and drones shape anything that can happen on a battlefield now. So I’d say its safely on the side of domination.
Tho technically its usually basements very close to the frontline, which a decent chance of being razed by enemy drones or artillery
The real problem with 2A types.
When the military is facing another country, they have to worry about civilians and potentially inaccurate location data and how other countries will react etc.
It’s as much a thinking diplomacy game as it is shooting shit.
If the government decides to go full authoritarian on its own people, they will just blast the entire 5000 person rural town with a load of napalm and let everyone else know that any other local militias thinking of playing hero will get the same, so buck the fuck up and get in line citizens. Because the normal “rules of war’ aren’t going to mean shit to a violent fascist authoritarian take over on local soil.
And this works as long as the folks pulling the trigger dont have friends or family in those towns.
It’s exaggeration… The people flying the drones are generally very physically fit and flying by fiber optics out in the field so the drones can’t be disrupted. They’re also carrying weapons and other heavy gear, and escorted by friendlies, in case someone tries to get the jump on them
But it’s funnier to play into the fact that drones are genuinely dominating the battlefield
Fiber optics is pretty rare compared to regular analog, and there is obvious price, range and battery considerations.
But yeah they need to be fit.
It’s somewhat rare for now, because Russia can only field so many drone jammers. Still common enough that fields of discarded fiber optic lines are a problem that Ukraine is going to have to solve
For cheap war drones, fiber lines are probably only going to get more common as drone warfare tactics develop
True, you need boots on the ground, but more importantly you need the right boots on the ground. These guys fantasize about being the “operator” type special forces, which just fundamentally aren’t able to gain or hold territory, just like drone operators can’t. Drone operators however are great at kirking enemy infantry and equipment for cheap with low risk.
Drone operator is the most risky job right now, they are a few kilometers back from the frontline but that’s about where positive side of things ends.
Infantry in the hottest part of the front just sits there (for month sometimes, true) if there is an assault they are trying to kill someone, but that’s about it.
Compared to pilots, where they need very specific places due to radio horizon, they need pretty bulky antennae (which needs either battery or generator to work so requires constant attention), they need to manage explosives, they need to charge batteries on time, they need to go out constantly, they are working for 12 hours every day at least, they need to change equipment (different frequencies require different antennas), they need good or at least passable internet connection and they are biggest targets close to the frontline, m*scovites often use multiple bombs just to destroy one single position if found. Believe me they aren’t see-trough thin nerds.
There are attack positions that don’t use analog video and fly digital only. Either over starlink or lte or any other type of connection, but all of them with exception of satellite connection are ausceptible to the same problems as analog. And if the pilots themselves are further out they need spotters that are close to the frontline which need to manage everything still, they just don’t fly.
decolo@piefed.social 11 hours ago
The story is clearly not about ‘war’ though, more like full societal breakdown with capitalist influences