I tend to agree that drones/UAVs would be quite rare c. 2000.
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Originally Posted by Legbreaker
UAVs/drones typically operate at relatively low altitudes (except for the big hellfire carrying ones of course, but they're more like unmanned aircraft). Given those fairly low altitudes, it's almost a certainty they're going to attract small arms fire, or even get caught in explosions (grenades, mortars, etc) for the more tactical level ones.
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I don't know about this. There's tons of footage out there of small drones loitering over OPFOR positions at relatively low altitude. Apparently, small, moving aerial targets are extremely difficult to hit with small arms fire. As a result, modern armies are developing all sorts of anti-drone weaponry, from lasers to microwave transmitters, to try to combat small drones.
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Originally Posted by Legbreaker
The larger ones operating at higher altitudes are sure to be targets for SAMS, AAA guns and other aircraft too, and to my knowledge, generally lack the ability to effectively fight back (yes, I know some have defensive systems which is why I said "effectively").
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True, the air over central Europe during the Twilight War would be fraught with dangers. I think tactical implementation is key here. If drones are used selectively, they might survive longer than one might think. Is a SAM crew going to risk painting itself for lurking Wild Weasels in order to target a lone drone (especially given the established tactic of using drones as decoys to unmask AA networks)?
That said, if SAMs and AAA don't get them, time likely will. As you pointed out, drone/UAV electronic components and power systems will likely fail without proper maintenance and/or the availability of spares, so non-combat attrition is almost inevitable.
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Originally Posted by Legbreaker
So, to make things really simple, there's no need to include them in a normal T2k game EXCEPT on very rare occasions as a macguffin or in the hands of the opposition. Their frequency of appearance should be about the same as just about any other type of aircraft and for more or less the exact same reasons.
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Agreed. The appearance of a drone in a campaign c.2000 should, IMHO, should be a really unique, special event.
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