r/tacticalgear Aug 06 '25

Weapons/Tactics Your periodic update on the capabilities of AI drones

Onboard AI will mean no signal to interrupt, no fiber optic line to cut

428 Upvotes

120 comments sorted by

282

u/Pr1zzm Aug 06 '25

Yeah if I were being hunted by a swarm of those, I'd be ready to call it quits. Modern and future warfare is truly terrifying.

48

u/NoSpawnConga Aug 06 '25 edited Aug 06 '25

Ugh was there any period when warfare wasn't? Maybe with Italian mercenary armies and their theatrics to fight as little as possible, or excellent way to keep bloodshed to a minimum like chinese and indians are doing.

Also maybe doing chevauchée and not getting caught by the enemy army, can't think of anything else.

42

u/ThoroughlyWet Aug 06 '25

Used to be you could hide behind a wall or in a bush and be generally safe either through cover or concealment.

16

u/DookieShoez Aug 06 '25

How very Italian of them to put that much effort into……not doing anything 😂

26

u/SmallRedBird Aug 06 '25

Just like every weapon ever invented, a countermeasure of some kind will be made to work against it. The eternal arms race

12

u/Empty_Mobile1076 Aug 06 '25

Did we ever develop a countermeasure for bullets? Armor is just portable cover, so idk if I’d count that as a countermeasure—it always existed in some form.

9

u/SmallRedBird Aug 07 '25

Armor is the countermeasure.

You can't be like "except armor, armor doesn't count!! >:("

What's the historical countermeasure for swords? Armor. Arrows? Armor. Bullets? Armor.

-1

u/Empty_Mobile1076 Aug 07 '25

Theoretically yes, but technically it’s just portable cover. I was thinking along the lines of something more advanced. Otherwise you could apply armor to everything and say it’s the countermeasure for drones too, yet we’ve obviously got much more complex defenses against drones.

4

u/SmallRedBird Aug 07 '25

Armor for bullets, arrows, and swords is all wearable without overly impeding mobility. Armor for drones wouldn't be feasible with modern tech given the explosives, but that doesn't mean nobody will come up with non-armor countermeasures.

-3

u/VodkaVision Aug 07 '25

Wtf? Have you ever held a piece of chainmail or a gambeson? It has always been a heavy pain in the ass.

6

u/SmallRedBird Aug 07 '25 edited Aug 07 '25

I make maille, don't cite the ancient magicks to me

All of that shit is made for mobility. If you can't move wearing a suit of armor, maille shirts, level 4 plates etc then you don't belong in combat in the first place, and do not have a valid experienced opinion.

0

u/fordag Aug 07 '25

Armorer is barely a counter to firearms.

It covers a small portion of the body leaving large areas vulnerable especially the head/neck area.

There are also plenty of cartridges that will pass right through modern body armor, to include level IV/RF3 armor.

5

u/Wojtkie Aug 06 '25

Maybe not bullets but CRAMs use bullets to intercept mortars and missles.

1

u/546875674c6966650d0a Aug 06 '25

Reactive armor netting

2

u/Starstalk721 Aug 07 '25

If you were being hunted by this you'd be dead by the time you heard it.

142

u/Jlaurie125 Aug 06 '25 edited Aug 06 '25

We heard the scream of the drone through the trees, then a loud bang. When we picked our heads up out of the dirt Jackson was gone....but we had no time think about it because there were more screams getting louder.

52

u/Expecto_Patron_shots Connoisseur of Autism Patches Aug 06 '25

On our next episode of short stories to make you shit your pants...

27

u/Tarr2211 Aug 06 '25

The scary part is that it's happening in Ukraine daily.

0

u/Expecto_Patron_shots Connoisseur of Autism Patches Aug 06 '25

Oh I know. Im in the Ukraine war report sub

63

u/LetsGatitOn Aug 06 '25

Why do we create our own demise

29

u/DustyKnives Aug 06 '25

We’re coming up with their demise. Surely it will never be turned against us!

1

u/TJM18 Aug 08 '25

But Skynet told me we would be safe 🥺

9

u/AquaDogRecordings Aug 06 '25

This was always the path. Jesus Christ tried to warn us and we warred in his name for the next 2000 years.

20

u/SmallRedBird Aug 06 '25

John Connor*

-2

u/bloodcoffee Aug 06 '25

Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword

24

u/AquaDogRecordings Aug 06 '25

The bible out of context is a dangerous thing. What he is saying here is to get ready for hard times if you fully follow me. He did not say peace, he said the Aramaic version of Shalom which means completion or wholeness. He is saying that your family may abandon you and you them if you want to truly be down for the cause. He used analogy, he never meant putting people to death. Thats the other Abrahamic religions trip.

12

u/TheAmericanIcon Aug 06 '25

Yeah, from a literary perspective, there is so much in the Bible that could be used in any context you wish. Almost as scary as AI drones.

6

u/AquaDogRecordings Aug 06 '25

hell yeah! way to complete the circuit on the subject at hand. well done!

3

u/bloodcoffee Aug 06 '25

That's because it's vague, contradictory, ambiguous, in a dead language, and extremely long. The history of all religions is that the interpretation changes with the times to remain somewhat in accordance with society, or else become defunct. Mormonism is the great modern version of this .

5

u/bloodcoffee Aug 06 '25

The context of the Bible has little to do with what a person named Jesus, who may or may not have existed, may have said. It's a sham document, sorry to be blunt. Which religious texts are used to justify more violence is interesting but secondary to the fact that they are all used to justify violence, because cults operate largely the same across location and time.

37

u/nyktouvios Aug 06 '25

How do you even kill this thing

34

u/SnooSongs1525 Aug 06 '25

May have to be nets, lasers, EMP...

34

u/Open-that-door Aug 06 '25 edited Aug 06 '25

A bit to expand on the mentioned methods:

Net: Physically blocked the drones, but most likely a one-time use. But only when you are in a defense position and the explosions aren't strong and only few are coming your way. Otherwise, the net is like nothing.

Lasers: Active defense methods, but will have angle and coverage issues. Will have to keep on moblie to prevent from anti-tank missiles and other drones attacks.

EMP: Higher chance to get them, but could have other potential issue such as range coverage issue and friendly devices disabled, communication blockage, etc.

If a swarm of them coming to attack just about everyone, then just RIP. Money shot always works.

14

u/junrenman Aug 06 '25

11

u/dogododo Aug 06 '25

“The enemy gets a vote. Epirus is your veto.” Man what a slogan. They need to pay their marketing department more because that is a killer line.

2

u/yuikkiuy Aug 06 '25

The MIC always has your back from targets microwave cannons to layered direct fire energy weapon AA grids.

As scary as these things are to the average Russian conscript given a shotgun for defense. First world militaries like the US and European powers will be able to effectively deny these things in relatively large bubbles of controlled airspace with ease.

1

u/Open-that-door Aug 06 '25 edited 29d ago

The conflicts may involve not just a few countries but coalitions of multiple countries. So, the warzone is huge enough to make the defensive measurements fall shorts. The overwhelming quantities of missiles and drones attacks are the keys to a large scale warfares, which are what the U.S. and E.U. lacks and can't be fixed since the manufacturing capability is long gone. After the multiple wars broke out, it shows no huge signs to catch up to a level to sustain more battles worldwide.

1

u/yuikkiuy Aug 07 '25

We have laser point defense right now, and layering that with other options will make near impenetrable bubbles of air space in local areas.

You wont be able to stretch it across an entire front, but you will have strategic hubs of relative safety.

1

u/Open-that-door Aug 07 '25 edited Aug 08 '25

Yeah. It is pretty effective to protect some local targets. However, if it's a saturated attack, nothing will prevent it from getting bombed. In that case, the ability to reach out with drones are the best defensive and assault strategy to obtain. Although, modern warfares are multi-layered.

1

u/CPTherptyderp Aug 06 '25

Are we not doing phrasing any more?

10

u/hockeymaskbob Aug 06 '25

Comically large fly swatter

23

u/crispybrojangle Aug 06 '25

First off, this is a professional drone on a race chassis. No shade at OP, the point is valid, but this thing likely has an extremely short flight time. Ive seen a lot of footage from Ukraine and hung out with some FPV pilots, they aren’t doing this. Thats also no shade at them, race chassis vs monster car garage in Ukraine. Different tools for different problems.

6

u/SnooSongs1525 Aug 06 '25 edited Aug 06 '25

I build and fly these and there’s very little distinction. They’re all an X frame, 4 motors, a battery, a camera, and some electronics. Flight times are determined by the weight, size of battery, and magnitude of throttle inputs. FPV drones now carry large charges to account for likely missing the target or hitting right next to it, as well as engaging multiple targets. Flying these gates essentially demonstrate navigating a complex tunnel or building interior where smaller charges are more useful, and hitting a target directly with high accuracy. You also don’t need a pilot for every drone - can launch as many as you want.

4

u/crispybrojangle Aug 06 '25

What I’m saying is that ukraine typically has a payload (i know its a multi use term, I’m talking explosives). They arent flying at this speed through a trench with a payload. Also, to do a call for fire mission in Ukraine you’re typically using 2-4 different systems that dont talk to each other for a variety of reasons. Thats all. You’re right about X and dead cat chassis’s, but like i said, they have them modified for reasons. Im keeping this vague, but external modifications from the chassis for different mission sets.

Even though this is ai flying, there is a lot of crossover from FPV race pilots to actual Ukrainian pilots. I believe the #10 pilot in the word works for oak grove in NC.

1

u/SnooSongs1525 Aug 06 '25

I think I addressed what you’re talking about - noting that increased accuracy and enclosed spaces both allow you to make the payload (I call a charge) smaller. You can still strap an artillery shell to it but you don’t need to. If they’re not flying like this it’s probably more a function of limitations of the human pilots than the capability and usefulness of the platform.

1

u/FastCommunication301 Aug 07 '25

Large drone carrier will launch these race drones

3

u/alm12alm12 Aug 06 '25

Short wave EMP bursts up in the sky on a pole or something? It would need to not impact ground equipment obviously, and o have no idea if that exists.

2

u/TaskForceD00mer Aug 06 '25

All that does is drive up the cost and weight of the drones , seeing more of them adding EMP shielding.

3

u/carlos_damgerous Aug 06 '25

Birdshot? (That’s if you can stay concealed long enough to catch it if/when it stops/is moving slow enough that you can get a shot or two off at it)

1

u/Drakoneous Aug 06 '25

AI shotgun

-8

u/Plenty_Pack_556 Aug 06 '25

12ga. Birdshot.

34

u/Expecto_Patron_shots Connoisseur of Autism Patches Aug 06 '25

At this point in just going to make a tin foil ghilli suit and pray that thermal doesn't see me

3

u/DustyKnives Aug 06 '25

Or make a bunch of warmed up manikins to hopefully throw off the scent. It’s not perfect but it could work like chaff/flare countermeasures on fighter jets.

62

u/GatEnthusiast Aug 06 '25 edited Aug 06 '25

The men and women working on and pushing AI, particularly as related to weaponry, ought to be treated as enemies of humanity.

Edit: I'm going to extend that also to anyone who says, "but my good-guy country has to get it first before those other, bad countries get it!" -you too are an enemy of humanity, along with anyone else who suggests some other 'but'

"Thou shalt not create a machine in the likeness of a human mind." Fuck anyone that says otherwise.

3

u/Amazing_Shirt_Sis Aug 06 '25

The Butlerians were right and I will welcome the jihad when it comes.

4

u/NoSpawnConga Aug 06 '25

Even if you do - how do you get to those working for Russia and China inside those countries? Or any other place where ethics don't exist.

-6

u/GatEnthusiast Aug 06 '25

If you are suggesting that absolutely nobody in the Russian or Chinese government has ethics and would think and act in favor of humanity's survival over their country's quest for dominance, then you are foolish. All it takes is a few people willing to throw monkey wrenches into the gears and take on the lunatic sociopaths that are behind the development.

8

u/WowBruhFR Aug 06 '25

Considering you have to be a very particular person to become high ranking in the Chinese and Russian governments, yeah there is probably no one that values humanity’s collective survival. At least not over their own life or the lives of their direct family if they disobey an order from a higher up.

-3

u/GatEnthusiast Aug 06 '25

They are massive countries with large populations, and thus large governments made up of MANY people. The people at the top rely on mid-level people. The mid-level people rely on low-level people. There are MANY low-level people necessary to make such a large machine's wheels turn. It only takes a few low-level people to throw monkey wrenches.

Right now they have more to lose by participating in sabotage or revolt than they have to gain, but at some point once this AI shit really starts to effect us, some will stand to gain more than they have to lose.

0

u/WowBruhFR Aug 06 '25

I actually hope you’re right. Except Hong Kong tried to stand up to the CCP and they got fuck all from it. I’m not trying to be a pessimist, but the future is super unpredictable right now. Gonna be a weird next decade

-2

u/NoSpawnConga Aug 06 '25 edited Aug 06 '25

Brochacho lunatic sociopaths are demolishing Russia economics on a unbelievable scale this very moment in attempt to win a war - that isn't a war for Russia's survival in any way shape or form - and making it a North North Korea and no one from inside the regime is stopping them, what the are you even talking about.

And judging by how first Chinese doctors were successfully using HIV treatment medication to treat Wuhan coronavirus - those maniacal assholes in Wuhan labs were probably working or airborne AIDS or some shit (and in environment where they have like 20x amount of breaches than level 4 EU labs), there is a severe lack of ethics in both countries.

2

u/GatEnthusiast Aug 06 '25

Honestly what are YOU even talking about?

-1

u/ChrisWhiteWolf Aug 06 '25

Yes, but it's kinda like nukes, where if you realize its awful potential and decide to not work on it, your enemy sure as hell will and they won't hesitate to use it against you. A fucked if you do, fucked if you don't sort of situation.

7

u/GatEnthusiast Aug 06 '25

That's why it has to be a global movement that doesn't give a damn about governments. The Butlerian Jjihad from Dune is a good example. Every religion, culture, and creed could likely agree- "Thou shalt not create a machine in the likeness of a human mind."

10

u/WowBruhFR Aug 06 '25

Humans have the knack for not doing anything until a bunch of people have already died. It’s how work place safety laws were created.

Nothing will be done about AI until something catastrophic happens. Mark my words

-2

u/ChrisWhiteWolf Aug 06 '25

Every religion, culture, and creed could likely agree

That's naïve as fuck.

There's always going to be a ton of people more than happy to do it for the right price and governments have the money to make it happen. You can wish all you want for everyone to hold hands and refuse to advance technology in a way that's harmful to humanity, but it's just not gonna happen.

Like the other person who replied to your comment said, only after the tech is used and we see how fucked it is, will anyone consider doing anything about it.

0

u/GatEnthusiast Aug 06 '25

Lmao who said anything about wishing for everyone to hold hands? I'm talking about a movement that FORCES them to stop. Your doomerism is disgusting and if you aren't on board, congratulations, you are now an enemy of humanity.

-1

u/ChrisWhiteWolf Aug 06 '25

who said anything about wishing for everyone to hold hands?

I'm sure you understand what a figure of speech is.

I'm talking about a movement that FORCES them to stop.

I understand that, but I simply don't think such a movement is realistic, as nice as it would be.

you are now an enemy of humanity.

And you get to decide that, random redditor? And simply because I pointed out the obvious issue with your wishful thinking based on humanity's entire history? Try getting your head out of your ass, friend.

1

u/GatEnthusiast Aug 06 '25

Sorry, I don't converse with enemies of humanity.

I'm sure you also understand that I'm only half serious, but I also don't give a rat's ass what you really think, random doomerist redditor that you are.

1

u/ChrisWhiteWolf Aug 06 '25

Sorry, I don't converse with enemies of humanity.

Have a great rest of your day, then.

-2

u/Boring_Long_3860 Aug 06 '25

Brother if we don’t do it, somebody else is going to have it, and it’s going to be the reason we get obliterated in the next war.

20

u/Jaguar_556 Aug 06 '25

Drones are going to completely ruin warfare, which is a weird thing to say because war is already awful. But at least in traditional war fighting, developing your skills gives you a better chance of survival. These fucking things.. they make you irrelevant cannon fodder regardless of how well trained you are.

Wait until they start using quantum entanglement to transmit the control signal. You won’t even be able to jam them.

Edit: just saw the part about onboard ai. That’s even worse lol

3

u/EnvironmentBright697 Aug 06 '25

They’re using mostly fibre optic in Ukraine already so they can’t be jammed

6

u/TIRACS Aug 06 '25

Fuck

1

u/SalliIsAFem Aug 06 '25

Same thing, fuck

12

u/edwarjor Aug 06 '25

Glad we could get these programs ready for the big one

15

u/Majestic-Ad-1368 Aug 06 '25

Battle of Taiwan boutta be like BO2. See you all there 🫡

1

u/TheHancock Aug 06 '25

Gucci Gang blasts from the dropships as Zoomers get ready to land on the frontlines

3

u/sawyerdk9 Civilian Aug 06 '25

Nope!

2

u/Speedhabit Aug 06 '25

If it was AI it could keep up that speed with the targets moving dynamically

2

u/ksnelly49 Aug 06 '25

We need Shawn Conner !

2

u/Braves1313 Aug 06 '25

Is this drone reacting to the course or is it pre programmed for this course?

5

u/pm_me_your_rasputin Aug 06 '25

No one here actually understands this stuff, you need to just post videos and freak out

2

u/Dukeronomy Aug 06 '25

I've been into flying FPV since 2020 and the tech is advancing faster and faster every month. It is really incredible.

They've had "ai" drones racing human pilots for a few years, at least, and only a few months ago ai was able to defeat the human pilots. Shit is changing on the daily.

3

u/spiceweasle93 Aug 06 '25

Ive seen these before I don't th8nk it's ai. I'm pretty sure the route is programmed into them

0

u/SnooSongs1525 Aug 06 '25

You may be right. I’m repeating what was posted by the league. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJ33EoboKfU/?igsh=MWF5YzB4a3JpNnFpZg==

1

u/mr-pootytang Aug 06 '25

i for one, welcome our robotic overlords

1

u/hanyh2 Aug 06 '25

Great tracking from the camerman

1

u/fullyphil Aug 07 '25

the camera man is an ai robot too

1

u/j1valve Connoisseur of Autism Patches Aug 06 '25

9/11 part two Electric Boogaloo

1

u/Thenewclarence Aug 06 '25

T shirt cannon full of iron partials. If you can stall the motors it cant fly.

1

u/Brebix Aug 06 '25

A bunch of kids having fun…..

1

u/darvinvolt Aug 06 '25

Cool, can't wait till these bad boys replace the 19 year old PFC Snuffy, so instead of getting hit by IEDs in the sandbox, he could go smoke weed and be a potter or something

1

u/HugeCalligrapher1283 Aug 06 '25

Yep let’s clap till they are chasing us lol

1

u/Kyle_Blackpaw Aug 06 '25

time to start learning to make an emp device

1

u/Sappys_Curry Aug 06 '25

Someone get Harry Potter on the blower!

1

u/coolbrobeans Aug 06 '25

Look at them clapping. I wonder if they’re aware how many people will be inevitably killed by this technology.

1

u/Accomplished_Box7400 Aug 06 '25

Weaponized tennis rackets. . .

1

u/Avtamatic Aug 06 '25

Oh. So this is what all those UFO sightings were.

1

u/OneMadChihuahua Aug 06 '25

Seriously, it's time to start working on EMP devices for the general population.

1

u/Xenris001 Aug 07 '25

We are so fucjed

1

u/Ataiio Aug 07 '25

We already had swarm that could be operated by one pilot 10 years ago. And now with AI on board it’s like the worst science fiction movie came to life

1

u/emccoyii Aug 07 '25

I, for one, welcome our new robot overlords.

1

u/LANDJAWS Aug 07 '25

Is the ai processing on board? I don't see a drone carrying around a gpu and psu

1

u/Broceephus Aug 07 '25

We are so cooked.

1

u/f0rcedinducti0n 27d ago

gonna be real hard for the AI to tell the difference between russian t72s and Ukrainian t72s

-21

u/PunchyPalooka Aug 06 '25

people here have mentioned EMP for drone defense but maybe y'all aren't aware: the only way we've found to generate an EMP is to donate a nuclear explosion, and the blast wave of the nuke far outstrips the EMP. so i think we can rule that defense out

12

u/grahampositive Aug 06 '25

That's... Not true

2

u/phldlphegls1 Aug 06 '25

You can literally go online and buy pocket sized ones. The legality of using them is a different story though.

2

u/EquivalentHat2457 Aug 06 '25

Not sure where you are getting your info. You are incorrect