This Insane U.S. Army Missile Will Spew Clusters of Deadly Quadcopter Drones

[rangerrebew]

This Insane U.S. Army Missile Will Spew Clusters of Deadly Quadcopter Drones
[1]
Main Image

A super weapon?
Michael Peck [2]

In a cloud of smoke and flame, the salvo of rockets streaks skyward from the battery of U.S. Army multiple rocket launchers. But as the projectiles arc through the air and descend toward the enemy positions below, each rocket spews a cloud of armed quadcopter drones. As the quadcopters unfold their rotors and begin their descent, their sensors lock on to enemy tanks. Finally, the drones land on top of the tanks before detonating.

This sounds like something that Empire would use in a Star Wars movie, but it’s actually a weapon that blurs the line between an artillery shell and a drone. And the U.S. Army wants it now.

The Army recently put out a research proposal [3] for a rocket armed, not with high explosive, but rather with a payload of quadcopters. Each quadcopter would unfold its rotors and home in on an individual target. Each drone would also be armed with a small Explosively Formed Penetrator, a special type of warhead used in some antitank missiles and also in IEDs that insurgents used in Iraq and Syria to destroy armored vehicles.

 
Source URL (retrieved on February 5, 2017): http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/insane-us-army-missile-will-spew-clusters-deadly-quadcopter-19317

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

This Insane U.S. Army Missile Will Spew Clusters of Deadly Quadcopter Drones
[1]
Main Image

A super weapon?
Michael Peck [2]

In a cloud of smoke and flame, the salvo of rockets streaks skyward from the battery of U.S. Army multiple rocket launchers. But as the projectiles arc through the air and descend toward the enemy positions below, each rocket spews a cloud of armed quadcopter drones. As the quadcopters unfold their rotors and begin their descent, their sensors lock on to enemy tanks. Finally, the drones land on top of the tanks before detonating.

This sounds like something that Empire would use in a Star Wars movie, but it’s actually a weapon that blurs the line between an artillery shell and a drone. And the U.S. Army wants it now.

The Army recently put out a research proposal [3] for a rocket armed, not with high explosive, but rather with a payload of quadcopters. Each quadcopter would unfold its rotors and home in on an individual target. Each drone would also be armed with a small Explosively Formed Penetrator, a special type of warhead used in some antitank missiles and also in IEDs that insurgents used in Iraq and Syria to destroy armored vehicles.

 
Source URL (retrieved on February 5, 2017): http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/insane-us-army-missile-will-spew-clusters-deadly-quadcopter-19317

This is actually really cool... and just the beginning. These drones will be everywhere in a few generations.

[Smokin Joe]

Individually aimed and powered cluster bomblets...