Nano Quadrotors..??

[Gil T.Azell]

Saw this posted on Facebook.
what would they use these for?
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=YQIMGV5vtd4#![/yt]
Sky net started small,

 

[FordSVT]

Surveillance and security is the first thing I had in mind. You could also scale up the design and use them as lifters like a traditional helicopter.

 

[FPAlpha]

Imagine people with a mortal fear of bees or wasps

Nice gimmick.. for now. However, as said, there could be interest as security devices and such.

 

[infinix]

Do we know if those things are pre-programmed or were they being remote controlled?

 

[Crazy Eddie]

Shields.

Put a swarm of a few hundred those things around a naval vessel, each carrying a slab of metal plating beneath them. When you detect a projectile or a missile approaching the ship, the drones move into a screening formation and the projectile hits one of the plates, detonating at a good standoff distance and doing no damage.

On a smaller scale, a few dozen of these things around a tank or an armored vehicle would make a pretty effective screen against RPGs or mortar shells.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Shields.

Put a swarm of a few hundred those things around a naval vessel, each carrying a slab of metal plating beneath them. When you detect a projectile or a missile approaching the ship, the drones move into a screening formation and the projectile hits one of the plates, detonating at a good standoff distance and doing no damage.

On a smaller scale, a few dozen of these things around a tank or an armored vehicle would make a pretty effective screen against RPGs or mortar shells.

I guess that would work if they were cheap enough to be replaced easily.

As for surveillance, there's speculation that governments have already deployed roughly dragonfly-sized mobile cameras. These things might be more maneuverable, though. If they can be made to run dead silent, it would be hard to notice them and they could get into really tight spaces.

 

[backstept]

their agility would make for some amazing aerial stunt vehicles if scaled up to carry a human

 

[FordSVT]

Shields.

Put a swarm of a few hundred those things around a naval vessel, each carrying a slab of metal plating beneath them. When you detect a projectile or a missile approaching the ship, the drones move into a screening formation and the projectile hits one of the plates, detonating at a good standoff distance and doing no damage.

On a smaller scale, a few dozen of these things around a tank or an armored vehicle would make a pretty effective screen against RPGs or mortar shells.

I guess that would work if they were cheap enough to be replaced easily.

As for surveillance, there's speculation that governments have already deployed roughly dragonfly-sized mobile cameras. These things might be more maneuverable, though. If they can be made to run dead silent, it would be hard to notice them and they could get into really tight spaces.

Ooooo. Yes, point defence system, I like it.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Shields.

Put a swarm of a few hundred those things around a naval vessel, each carrying a slab of metal plating beneath them. When you detect a projectile or a missile approaching the ship, the drones move into a screening formation and the projectile hits one of the plates, detonating at a good standoff distance and doing no damage.

On a smaller scale, a few dozen of these things around a tank or an armored vehicle would make a pretty effective screen against RPGs or mortar shells.

I guess that would work if they were cheap enough to be replaced easily.

As for surveillance, there's speculation that governments have already deployed roughly dragonfly-sized mobile cameras. These things might be more maneuverable, though. If they can be made to run dead silent, it would be hard to notice them and they could get into really tight spaces.

Ooooo. Yes, point defence system, I like it.

I think fast-tracking lasers/guns would make better point-defense systems, at least for large targets like battleships and carriers. Having your active defenses be mobile introduces a lot of logistical challenges, and they could also be very dangerous if turned against you.

 

[FordSVT]

But they already have fast tracking guns and lasers in a limited capacity. This could be a last line of defence in case those methods failed. Not sure how much damage a shielded, weaponless platform is going to do if it's "turned against you", however that would happen.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

But they already have fast tracking guns and lasers in a limited capacity. This could be a last line of defence in case those methods failed. Not sure how much damage a shielded, weaponless platform is going to do if it's "turned against you", however that would happen.

Presumably, the things are wireless. If they aren't fully automated, then they operate by receiving radio commands. This means they can be hacked.

Even without weapons, if they have armor plates, they can be set to hover in front of your own turrets/cannons, effectively disarming you.

Have some imagination!

 

[infinix]

But they already have fast tracking guns and lasers in a limited capacity. This could be a last line of defence in case those methods failed. Not sure how much damage a shielded, weaponless platform is going to do if it's "turned against you", however that would happen.

Presumably, the things are wireless. If they aren't fully automated, then they operate by receiving radio commands. This means they can be hacked.

Even without weapons, if they have armor plates, they can be set to hover in front of your own turrets/cannons, effectively disarming you.

Have some imagination!

Given how small these things are, how long could they actually stay in the air? I can't imagine the battery running those 4 motors last more than 10 minutes tops.

Also, how effective would those type of deployment work if all I need to disarm it is a giant magnet that can be easily obtained? Just wrap some copper wires around a block of iron and run some electricity through it. Those little flying suckers would stick to the magnet like mosquitoes on a spider web.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

But they already have fast tracking guns and lasers in a limited capacity. This could be a last line of defence in case those methods failed. Not sure how much damage a shielded, weaponless platform is going to do if it's "turned against you", however that would happen.

Presumably, the things are wireless. If they aren't fully automated, then they operate by receiving radio commands. This means they can be hacked.

Even without weapons, if they have armor plates, they can be set to hover in front of your own turrets/cannons, effectively disarming you.

Have some imagination!

Given how small these things are, how long could they actually stay in the air? I can't imagine the battery running those 4 motors last more than 10 minutes tops.

Also, how effective would those type of deployment work if all I need to disarm it is a giant magnet that can be easily obtained? Just wrap some copper wires around a block of iron and run some electricity through it. Those little flying suckers would stick to the magnet like mosquitoes on a spider web.

Which means they wouldn't be very useful at all, eh? At least not for any active role in a combat situation.

I think they would be most practical as surveillance devices.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

These aren't nanoscopic scale.

 

[Crazy Eddie]

But they already have fast tracking guns and lasers in a limited capacity. This could be a last line of defence in case those methods failed. Not sure how much damage a shielded, weaponless platform is going to do if it's "turned against you", however that would happen.

Presumably, the things are wireless. If they aren't fully automated, then they operate by receiving radio commands. This means they can be hacked.

So can UCAVs, which would IMO be a much more worthwhile use of a hacker's time.

Even without weapons, if they have armor plates, they can be set to hover in front of your own turrets/cannons, effectively disarming you.

If I'm up against a hacker who's smart enough to figure out how to do that on the fly, having my guns and missiles disabled would be the LEAST of my worries.

 

[FPAlpha]

I seriously doubt those tiny things would be a good defense for ships or anything else.

First i guess they'd be easily pushed out of the way by a kinetic force.. those tiny rotors are made to keep them in the air and move around, not resist an incoming force.

Second for them to have any defensive capability they'd need something... a plate in front of them would make them heavy so they'd need to be bigger, therefore less of them. A counterexplosion like on modern tank armor would most likely destroy the drone itself so ít's a one shot (at best).

Third.. you'd need a shitload of 'em to have any effectivity and then they're limited in numbers.. you can't fill up the entire storage of a ship with these things to be used in a prolonged battle. They may save you from the first attack but then they're gone making you defenseless (so to speak).

I don't think they have any place as a defense device.. they're pitch perfect for intelligence and recon work where their small scale and agility is perfect to carry them around on a soldier.. make them more silent and they will be in use everywhere (and such small drones are already in use by today's military for just these purposes).

 

[Crazy Eddie]

Second for them to have any defensive capability they'd need something... a plate in front of them would make them heavy so they'd need to be bigger, therefore less of them.

Not that much bigger. Nobody's talking about using them as flying armor or anything; really, a small fragmentation device or -- better yet -- a shaped-charge explosive the size of your fist would be sufficient to whack an incoming warhead and detonate the missile at a standoff distance. They've already developed something like this for humvees and tanks; the only point of having it on an airborne platform is to increase the standoff distance to an arbitrary distance from the ship.

A counterexplosion like on modern tank armor would most likely destroy the drone itself so ít's a one shot (at best).

And this is a problem because...?

Third.. you'd need a shitload of 'em

Yep. A couple of hundred at least. So it's a good thing these things are small and relatively cheap.

They may save you from the first attack but then they're gone making you defenseless (so to speak).

So the defending vessel falls back on its conventional point defense systems -- which, ordinarily, would be its only means of defense -- if it has not already done so. There's also the fact that a swarm of flying robots hovering around the ship would really screw up its radar silhouette, which is enough to screw up the terminal guidance of sea-skimming missiles like the Exocet or the Harpoon.

Still not seeing the problem here.