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PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   1596 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for July 25, 2025

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Why are there not loitering counter-drones above troop movements in Ukraine? I’m seeing footage of surveillance drones with high-fidelity video recording, zooming in 16x or 32x onto targets. What’s stopping the development of drones with video recording that feeds into AI and surveils for incoming enemy drones? Ai should be able to determine if something is a drone from visual signature + movement. Then you’d simply have to equip it with some kind of birdshot or have it launch a smaller drone.

I think IFF would be a nightmare in the face of ongoing jamming and other e-war. The autonomy of the drones in this war is quite constrained, and we're only seeing semi-independent hunter-killers.

Intercepting drones with other drones isn't easy either.

They’re using fiber optics drones now which is insane

I can’t think of an easier way to give away the position of your troops than having a large drone right on top of their location.

It does not appear that either side has figured out a way to hide from enemy drones. If you are in the settlement that they are attacking, you will eventually just die.

There are special cloaks that camouflage you in both visible light and IR, but they are still too rare to hand out to every trooper.

Not that expensive, though. 50 bucks if you buy them wholesale.

I saw a /r/combatfootage video in which a Russian wearing a large poncho was blown apart by a drone. The commenters speculated it was meant to make it harder to spot him in IR by spreading out the heat more evenly. But like many Russian soldiers he was wandering around by himself during the day and was clearly visible in regular light.

I mean, you don't have to hover right above them. Both sides know where each other is, at least to around the precision of a grid-square. There's literal trench warfare going on, it's not like they're not going to be manning those.

You could have drones screening the perimeter or roaming the front-lines.

What’s stopping the development of drones with video recording that feeds into AI and surveils for incoming enemy drones? Ai should be able to determine if something is a drone from visual signature + movement.

Because surveillance drones are small and practically invisible in a wide angle view from distance. Realtime (or near realtime) computer vision operates at surprisingly low resolutions and only ”zooms in” once it has identified the area that has the target object.

I did a quick test with a camera and assuming a 20 MP sensor (possibly slightly optimistic) and typical DJI drone lens, a drone size target at 100 meters away would fill roughly an area around 20x20 pixels size - and that’s when fully digitally zoomed in!

You know how the stereotypical bird photographer carries a huge ass lens that resembles a bazooka in size? There’s a reason for that and it’s called ”small target far away” (except no bird photographer would imagine getting a good shot from 100 meters away even with a massive lens)

But how far away do you need to be to shoot out buckshot or something? Or netting? Drone kill zone is maybe 20 meters.

You have to be able to find the drone and guide the loiterer close enough fast enough.

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