Drones

[Matt W]

http://www.popsci.com/marine-corps-commandant-wants-drone-in-every-squad

Please check out the above link. Does anyone else think that a Recon Team could manage a drone?

[mmartin798]

I don't think it's a matter of can they manage it. Fixed wing drones are nothing more than an RC plane and can be flown easily. It is more a matter of radio capabilities. If they have radios with the bandwidth and weight to be carried in the drone with a reasonable B/W camera, then I say go for it.

Addendum:
Just to clarify, SSTV was use during the Apollo missions to transmit video from the moon. The early missions sent 320 line black and white video at 10 frames a second using only 500kHz of bandwidth. As this was sent as an audio waveform, the PRC-68 or PRC-70 could have a module that would decode the signal and display the video. It is even conceivable that the video could be processed by the secure voice module to keep the data from prying eyes. This would allow video to be used by used by the analog radios in the Project.

[ArmySGT.]

http://www.popsci.com/marine-corps-commandant-wants-drone-in-every-squad

Please check out the above link. Does anyone else think that a Recon Team could manage a drone?

Do I, yes.

I just have to come up with how to manage this. I don't want to set up the bad guys as paper targets......... I will probably let them use it a few times before a mutant 100lb deer eating owl snatches this from the sky.

:)

[kato13]

My own choice for drones, at least for recon teams, are parachuted 40mm ones fired from a M203.

For gaming purposes, I like it for several reasons.

I think it is possible in any timeline (with Morrow wonder tech).
It gives the team a fixed number uses
It does not provide over the horizon information I might not be ready to give.
Uses existing launcher
Does not take up much space


You can limit the reception to the AutoNav or add some type of portable receiver.

[rcaf_777]

I have three choices

1. AeroVironment FQM-151 Pointer, this a small UAV used by the USMC for for battlefield surveillance, it made from high-impact Kevlar and is small enough to fit in a kit bag that could carried in a team vehicle. Upgraded ones used during the Iraq war had a GPS Nav system upgrade.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AeroVironment_FQM-151_Pointer

2. Insectothopter, This was a miniature unmanned aerial vehicle developed by the United States Central Intelligence Agency's research and development office in the 1970s. The Insectothopter was the size of a dragonfly, and was hand-painted to look like one. It was powered by a miniature fluidic oscillator to propel the wings up and down at the proper rate to provide both lift and thrust. I was thinking the Project could over come the CIA issues of controlling it is high winds and maybe change the power plant

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insectothopter

3. An ornithopter is an aircraft that flies by flapping its wings. Designers seek to imitate the flapping-wing flight of birds, bats, and insects. Though machines may differ in form, they are usually built on the same scale as these flying creatures. The project could have one that look like bats for night recon and another one looking like a hawk for daytime ops.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ornithopter

The project might also have a unmanned underwater vehicles like the CIA Charlie the Robot Fish

https://www.cia.gov/library/video-center/video-transcripts/charlie-cias-robotic-fish.html

[mmartin798]

It really depends on what part of the Project you working with. The FQM-151 is what I would expect frozen teams to have. Decent range and altitude giving the Recon team a good view of the area to know where they should investigate further and to fill out their reports to Prime Base.

The others mentioned I can only see in active use from the 1960s until the start of the war by Morrow Counter-Intelligence. This kind of unit had to exist to maintain the cover stories, and covert drones would be one way for them to gather intel. It is possible that these drones could be discovered by a team or even issued to them if the need for intelligence work was anticipated.

[ArmySGT.]

What about one that walks or rolls on wheels / treads instead of flies?

The Recon team gets some cool toys and the PD still gets to surprise them with stuff.

[dragoon500ly]

IMHO, I feel that an aerial drone would be of greater utility than a track/wheeled version for a Recon Team at least.

[mmartin798]

It depends on the role you need I guess. Aerial drones are great for intel gathering. But as I think about it, it might be cool to see a team with no vehicle, but a pair of fusion powered tracked drones to carry 500kg of gear each. Not sure what their role would be, but the idea I find interesting.

[cosmicfish]

I could see giving teams "mules" so they could get supplies into areas inaccessible to MPV's but I cannot see them being issued in lieu of actual vehicles. The cost would still be high but the utility would be far less. If you wanted to see this happen I would make it a one-off - destroy the MPV's and leave only the mule as quasi-transport.

Heck, maybe the mule isn't even designed for that purpose, perhaps it is just a self-propelled fusion reactor that happens to have some excess carrying capacity.

[rcaf_777]

Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) as they are called could of good use to team, some good examples of this are

Foster-Miller TALON's Special Weapons Observation Reconnaissance Detection System

This system could be of use to any team who need firepower but dose not have enough pers to carry weapons

There are a variety of different weapons that can be placed on the SWORDS; M16 rifle, 5.56 mm SAW M249, 7.62 mm M240 machine gun, .50 cal M82 Barrett rifle, a six barreled 40 mm grenade launcher or quad 66 mm M202A1 FLASH incendiary weapon

Could be used by Frozen watch

MATILDA Scout Robot

This is small robot that could carried by a lot of teams as it small enough to fit in project vehicles

PackBot

Another small robot similar to MATILDA

ANDROS Wolverine

This a fairly large robot used for EOD ops with additional equipment and armor it could used for counter mine, do to its weight and size, only engineering teams would use it.

The Gladiator Tactical Unmanned Ground Vehicle

This is a large robot capable of performing surveillance, reconnaissance, assault and breaching missions. It can be armed with M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, M240G Medium Machine Gun, 9mm Uzi, FN 303 semi-automatic less-lethal riot gun, Anti-Personnel/Obstacle Breaching System (APOBS), and Light Vehicle Obscuration Smoke System (LVOSS)

I see this system or one like it used for sentry duty and bases and camps.

Here a few pictures The last one is called a throw bot