To me it looks like we’re rapidly nearing the point where we can target off of a shared coordinate system instead of painting targets or seeking RF/heat at which point the loitering munitions become much more useful even with small warheads.
To me it looks like we’re rapidly nearing the point where we can target off of a shared coordinate system instead of painting targets or seeking RF/heat at which point the loitering munitions become much more useful even with small warheads.
Take Bayraktar and try to fit it into a VLS cell so a sub can launch one: you first have to make the wings smaller because that wide lifting body won't fold up into the allowed diameter. But now that you've made the wings smaller, its optimal cruising speed is going to be higher, but you can't add a second engine or make the existing one bigger, so that means replacing the prop engine with a turbofan. And you've just designed Tomahawk.
The Japanese thought they wanted one in WWII: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/I-400-class_submarine
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