I know Patriot missiles are relevant to traditional airframes… But aren’t they completely irrelevant when it comes to drones? I’m pretty sure each missile costs at least 1000x the price of what it’s most likely to be aimed at.
Edit: at four million a missile it’s closer to 10000 or 100000x
Even the cheap wedding drones that were converted at the start by Ukraine were in the $400 range. Now the cheapest quadcopters they’re using are $1000 on the low end, with the ones Russia is using have a low end $35,000 price tag.
Still ridiculously cost effective compared to a Patriot Missile.
The Ukrainians and houthis are having successful attacks with consumer drones that have hand grenades or ieds taped to them. You don’t need a “military grade” drone to fly an explosive where it shouldn’t be
These aren’t for the small disposable drones. They’re for other missles and large aircraft. For the missles in particular, you should also factor in the potential cost of the damage they’ll cause if not intercepted.
I know Patriot missiles are relevant to traditional airframes… But aren’t they completely irrelevant when it comes to drones? I’m pretty sure each missile costs at least 1000x the price of what it’s most likely to be aimed at.
Edit: at four million a missile it’s closer to 10000 or 100000x
4 000 000 a missile, 100 000x times more expensive than a military drone? what military drone costs $40?
I don’t know what models are in use today, but a Bayraktar TB2 costs 4 million.
Both Russia and Ukraine are heavily reliant on consumer drones from the likes of DJI. Those run in the 1000-4000 dollar range.
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Even the cheap wedding drones that were converted at the start by Ukraine were in the $400 range. Now the cheapest quadcopters they’re using are $1000 on the low end, with the ones Russia is using have a low end $35,000 price tag. Still ridiculously cost effective compared to a Patriot Missile.
The Ukrainians and houthis are having successful attacks with consumer drones that have hand grenades or ieds taped to them. You don’t need a “military grade” drone to fly an explosive where it shouldn’t be
Patriots are part of a layered air defense system that focuses on more valuable targets, whereas smaller air defense systems and units intercept UAVs.
Example
These aren’t for the small disposable drones. They’re for other missles and large aircraft. For the missles in particular, you should also factor in the potential cost of the damage they’ll cause if not intercepted.