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Comment by jlawer | Hacker News Reader

The obvious question is how effective at carrying small improvised explosives is it?

Pretty sure "fancy camera quadcopter" is the wrong quadcopter to be using in a warzone where things tend to get blown up.

Perhaps, unless those fancy cameras improve targeting capabilities in a meaningful way

You can already get the FPV camera on the Inspire standalone (looks like the O3), but I doubt it will improve targeting capabilities much. The FPV link is 720p, unless they changed something, but I wouldn't be surprised if they use analog cameras which cost $10.

Specs on the linked site say the FPV camera and live feed have been upgraded from 480p/30 on the Inspire 2 to 1080p/60 on the 3.

Oh, nice, I guess they use the DJI FPV system with Goggles 2, I forgot that was 1080p.

Maybe not targeting but the follow up BDA reports. Instead of having to send in a second drone to see the bomb damage, the same system can be used! Also, no need to wait for timing of a satellite pass over either.

This is a class too big for that, you're better off with a Mavic or even a Mini for lower cost, better stealth and simpler one-man operation.

> This is a class too big for that,

Allow me to introduce the machine gun carrying drone used in Ukraine:

https://twitter.com/clashreport/status/1616369468069789696

Is that really used? I would assume the accuracy is beyond horrible. That being said, if it is stupid and it works, anything goes.

does it have to be accurate? if you want to just use it for suppressing fire, i bet it's pretty effective. it's probably effective as a psychological deterrent too.

My experience with DJI drones is that once you put anything on them, the tuning of their flight controllers leads to substantially worse flight times, stability, and overall safety.

I know the Mini 3 can carry a naked GoPro without struggling too much, so a mavic might be able to carry a couple hundred grams with decent performance. But the flight characteristics go out the window pretty quickly, so I suspect you couldn’t carry much explosives on these things.

I have no idea how much is needed. Maybe a small amount is fine.

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