• tal@lemmy.today
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    3 months ago

    would USA helicopters got shot down by the drone too?

    I would guess so.

    If we had a sensor package that could reliably detect FPV drones out there, I suspect that it’d be getting mass-produced and sent to the Ukrainians.

    A helicopter can go faster than an FPV drone, so as long as it’s in the air, and has a bit of warning, it can just outfly the drone; the drone can’t catch up. Maybe multiple drones simultaneously coming from all directions, especially if there’s also heavy air defenses that prevent the helicopter from climbing, could still bring down a helicopter.

    • mindbleach@sh.itjust.works
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      3 months ago

      “A bit of warning” is probably overselling the acceleration of a traditional rotorcraft. You can’t safely get four tons of anything moving quickly using the same mechanism keeping it off the ground. Compare that with minimalist disposable quadcopters, with their zero-to-top-speed profile of “holy shit, where’d it go?”