Drones and UAVs in T2K

[rcaf_777]

Originally Posted by lordroel

But drones and UAVs would not be of the kind we have in present time i asume.

I not sure these UAV's were made in 1960's and 1970's

https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-histo...insectothopter

https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-histo...as-robotic-spy

https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-histo...ble-technology

[Silent Hunter UK]

You could have land drones i.e. remote control cars or bomb disposal robots.

[Vespers War]

Bringing this thread back to life and reorienting it slightly, does anyone have house rules for drones? The only GDW rules I can think of for them are from the Twilight Nightmares scenario "Warlord," with its GCUX series of ground UCVs functioning like vehicles with a fixed initiative of 3. They're either disabled on a radio hit (for the smaller drone) or have initiative get worse if the radio is destroyed and have crew hits disable the on-board computer (for the larger drones). They seem workable, but I'm curious what others may have come up with.

[LoneCollector1987]

We now see how drone warfare has changed the face of warfare.

Could drone warfare also be possible in the Twilight 2000 timeline?

By 1995 we had Linux, Apple and Windows PC, the first 64 bit chips were produced.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeli...0%E2%80%931999

So, would it be possible for some to even envision drone warfare and how would it evolve, till the EMP would shut them down?

And would a comeback later possible?

We also had the TOW and HOT missiles among others, so some drone control was already there.

[Nowhere Man 1966]

My father was stationed at White Sands, New Mexico from the mid to late 1950's as an Army Photographer and he remembers seeing and taking pictures of the drones they had back then, many were top secret at the time (he got his top secret clearance at the age of 17 when he joined up).

[Raellus]

Originally Posted by LoneCollector1987

We now see how drone warfare has changed the face of warfare.

Could drone warfare also be possible in the Twilight 2000 timeline?

So, would it be possible for some to even envision drone warfare and how would it evolve, till the EMP would shut them down?

And would a comeback later possible?

As we know it today, or even a couple of years ago, probably not. As of 1997, IRL, the technology wasn't nearly as mature as it was at the start of the Ukraine War in 2022. Some modern combat drones use cellular phone networks and wifi for navigation and control- although that tech existed in 1997, networks were much, much smaller. Civilian drones weren't really a thing (unless you include RC aircraft). FPV control was just barely starting to move beyond science fiction.

That said, I don't see why a lot of mid-1990s drone technology wouldn't still work. Radio control would still be possible. Military radio equipment is usually pretty well shielded against EMP. Reconnaissance drones could be programmed to follow a pre-determined flightpath.

Originally Posted by LoneCollector1987

We also had the TOW and HOT missiles among others, so some drone control was already there.

As in wire-guided drones? IIRC, both Russian and Ukrainian forces have used wire-guided drones in combat, but they aren't the preferred type. Wire-guidance certainly circumvents jamming, but such a control arrangement also severely limits the range of the drone, as it is essentially tethered to the operator's command unit by a length of copper wire. Also, the more strung-out the wire, the greater the chance it has to get snagged on things like trees, poles, buildings, etc. Once the wire is severed, the drone is essentially deaf, dumb, and blind. It probably crashes and, even if recovered, spare parts for repairs would be very scarce.

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[Raellus]

This topic came up in another T2k discussion venue. A user encountered a Soviet drone in a Cold War-themed computer game (WARNO) that I'd never seen before. Another user ID'ed it as the Yakolev Pchela. Naturally, US drones are much more well known in the West, but Soviet drones could make good plot devices in T2k campaigns. So, here are a couple of Cold War-era Soviet drones.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catego...e_Soviet_Union

Soviet drones have been modded to act as ad hoc cruise missiles.

https://www.twz.com/news-features/he...t-like-ukraine

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[ToughOmbres]

Originally Posted by LoneCollector1987

We now see how drone warfare has changed the face of warfare.

Could drone warfare also be possible in the Twilight 2000 timeline?

By 1995 we had Linux, Apple and Windows PC, the first 64 bit chips were produced.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeli...0%E2%80%931999

So, would it be possible for some to even envision drone warfare and how would it evolve, till the EMP would shut them down?

And would a comeback later possible?

We also had the TOW and HOT missiles among others, so some drone control was already there.

I could envision the same kind of drones used for spotting/Artillery observation such as those used in the First Gulf War-large, relatively clunky and were famously caught in a net when their mission was over.
By the time of the Twilight War, the drones might be a little smaller but still used for observation and spotting primarily. Then following the widespread use of tactical and strategic nuclear weapons they would become progressively rarer.