I know that is something that is used to accompany more expensive systems. For example the MALD which is deisgned to go in with cruise missiles. In addition to being a decoy, the MALD also has countermeasures to make is as hard as possible for air defense systems. We have evidence Ukraine uses these along some Storm Shadow strikes to increase the effectiveness of the Storm Shadows.
For these smaller drones, it seems like the chosen strategy has been to send them out in ones or twos, presumably to hide in the background clutter that is general aviation. I can think of only a single strike where we have video of them sending something like a dozen of them to the same area.
My best assumption is, for the cheap drones, it makes the most sense to have them blend in or just send more, rather than developing a dissimilar drone to accompany them that itself has no strike capability. These cheap drones are already very cheap and sending more with payloads means you have the potential to hit secondary targets if air defense is lighter than expected.
This may be a dumb thought/question but is there any merit to sending lighter drones without a payload to further flood their anti air defenses?
Or is the difference between a empty drone and deadly drone insignificant?
I know that is something that is used to accompany more expensive systems. For example the MALD which is deisgned to go in with cruise missiles. In addition to being a decoy, the MALD also has countermeasures to make is as hard as possible for air defense systems. We have evidence Ukraine uses these along some Storm Shadow strikes to increase the effectiveness of the Storm Shadows.
For these smaller drones, it seems like the chosen strategy has been to send them out in ones or twos, presumably to hide in the background clutter that is general aviation. I can think of only a single strike where we have video of them sending something like a dozen of them to the same area.
My best assumption is, for the cheap drones, it makes the most sense to have them blend in or just send more, rather than developing a dissimilar drone to accompany them that itself has no strike capability. These cheap drones are already very cheap and sending more with payloads means you have the potential to hit secondary targets if air defense is lighter than expected.