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What can offer cardboard drones, the cost of which is ten times lower than the "Shaheds".
Japan began to experience an unusual approach to military drones: instead of expensive composites and complex assembly, the bet is made on a cheap design of corrugated cardboard. Such a device does not look like a technological weapon of the future, but it is simplicity that can make it useful where mass, fast release and low price of loss are important.
Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said that the Maritime Self-Defense Forces are already using AirKamuy 150 drones. The devices were developed by the Japanese company AirKamuy. According to Koizumi, drones are used as targets, but it is not yet clear from the message whether it is about training for air defense calculations or scenarios for false goals.
AirKamuy 150 is a folding drone of aircraft type. Almost the entire body is made of corrugated cardboard, similar to the material of ordinary packaging boxes. The design is designed for fast assembly: an employee of AirKamuy told the publication NHK World-Japan that the device can be prepared for launch in about five minutes after unpacking.
Despite the simple design, the drone is declared with a flight duration of up to 80 minutes and a maximum speed of about 100 km / h. According to Tom’s Hardware, one such device costs from 2000 to 2500 dollars. For comparison, the Iranian Shaheeds, which are already considered relatively cheap attack drones, cost about 20 000-50 000 dollars per unit.
AirKamuy is betting not only on the price, but also on the availability of production. The head of the company Takumi Yamaguchi explained to NHK that the market is increasingly in need of inexpensive drones, which can be launched in large quantities and over long distances. According to him, the model can be produced at conventional cardboard enterprises, if there is equipment for cutting, which means that the supply chain does not depend only on narrow aviation industries.
This approach fits well into the new trend of military equipment: the army is looking for devices that are not sorry to lose and can be quickly replaced. The cardboard hull does not make the drone a universal solution, but reduces the price and simplifies scaling, and for mass tasks such qualities are sometimes more important than expensive materials and complex electronics.
Japan began to experience an unusual approach to military drones: instead of expensive composites and complex assembly, the bet is made on a cheap design of corrugated cardboard. Such a device does not look like a technological weapon of the future, but it is simplicity that can make it useful where mass, fast release and low price of loss are important.
Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said that the Maritime Self-Defense Forces are already using AirKamuy 150 drones. The devices were developed by the Japanese company AirKamuy. According to Koizumi, drones are used as targets, but it is not yet clear from the message whether it is about training for air defense calculations or scenarios for false goals.
AirKamuy 150 is a folding drone of aircraft type. Almost the entire body is made of corrugated cardboard, similar to the material of ordinary packaging boxes. The design is designed for fast assembly: an employee of AirKamuy told the publication NHK World-Japan that the device can be prepared for launch in about five minutes after unpacking.
Despite the simple design, the drone is declared with a flight duration of up to 80 minutes and a maximum speed of about 100 km / h. According to Tom’s Hardware, one such device costs from 2000 to 2500 dollars. For comparison, the Iranian Shaheeds, which are already considered relatively cheap attack drones, cost about 20 000-50 000 dollars per unit.
AirKamuy is betting not only on the price, but also on the availability of production. The head of the company Takumi Yamaguchi explained to NHK that the market is increasingly in need of inexpensive drones, which can be launched in large quantities and over long distances. According to him, the model can be produced at conventional cardboard enterprises, if there is equipment for cutting, which means that the supply chain does not depend only on narrow aviation industries.
This approach fits well into the new trend of military equipment: the army is looking for devices that are not sorry to lose and can be quickly replaced. The cardboard hull does not make the drone a universal solution, but reduces the price and simplifies scaling, and for mass tasks such qualities are sometimes more important than expensive materials and complex electronics.
𝗨𝗦𝗔 , 𝗘𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗣𝗘 & 𝗔𝗦𝗜𝗔 . 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗯𝘆 𝗔𝗧𝗠 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮 𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗱
