They must have been tempted to write "Kamikaze drones". Anyway, interesting development, I wonder why it hasn't been popular to use cardboard so far. Maybe cardboard weighs more, cutting in to payload capability?

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nine_k 19 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Cardboard is heavy and not very strong. Quadcopter drones carry their payload all by the motors' thrust, and experience large accelerations; they would break if made out of cardboard.

OTOH small airplanes like the one pictured derive most of their lift from wings, and are not expected to do aerobatic, so they have somehow lower requirements for strength, and cost considerations can take over.

I wonder what would be the military usefulness of such a drone: it's much more visible, likely has rather low payload capacity, and cannot hover. It could work as a recon drone, or a retransmitter for extending communications range. It may be significantly more quiet than a quadcopter, it could even glide with the motor off, so it could sneak towards manned positions, especially in the dark.

	▲	roughly 19 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		> I wonder what would be the military usefulness of such a drone If you're talking about the cardboard drone specifically: it's incredibly cheap to manufacture, which means you can easily deploy a gazillion of them. They're bullet sponges - a modern day Zerg rush.
	▲	NoGravitas 17 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		> I wonder what would be the military usefulness of such a drone To deplete anti-drone defenses; to provide cover for heavier Shahed type drones. > it could even glide with the motor off, so it could sneak towards manned positions, especially in the dark. Return of the Night Witches.

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HNisCIS 20 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

The airframe isn't the main cost driver for these things and cardboard is aerodynamically inefficient. You could blow mould or a million other techniques and get a better, possibly cheaper airframe.

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esseph 20 hours ago | parent [-]

Styrofoam works great for short to medium range glide interceptors that are supposed to be cheaper than the attacking airframe (less weight, less fuel/energy required, less explosive required etc.).

Ukraine seems to be pouring a lot of these right now.

	▲	pfdietz 19 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Styrofoam has been used in model aircraft for decades. It's easily shaped with a hot wire.

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chucksta 20 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

weather and protecting it from it?

	▲	Alive-in-2025 19 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I'd suspect almost all drones lose significant range if wet or stormy. But in Ukraine the drone war seemed to go on all winter