The 1800yd range is based on a .338 Lapua round. That round requires a pretty hefty platform to remain stable.
Yes, I was thinking of something much larger than your typical consumer drone. I wasn't thinking of the little Mavic drone that lands in your hand. I suspect that it would be much smaller than a Predator, however.
I would love to see the drone platform that could hold a .338 rifle that steady half a mile in the air.
I should think there'd be some kind of gimbal involved.
Second, the system calculates the solution at the point of the trigger pull.
If you mean, "around the time the operator pulls the trigger."
This is fine if the movement is predictable (as it would be for a trained human). I suspect a drone is going to struggle mightily with a .338's recoil.
You're telling me that CIA contractors or other engineers couldn't engineer some kind of gimbal that would be more stable than a human operator? Making it lightweight and incorporating it into a drone would be difficult. I don't think it would be impossible or impractical.
Since we are all cherry picking details (or taking pot shots might be a better phrase)...
A TAC-338 sniper rifle weighs in at a whopping 11lbs. There are off the shelf camera gimbals that can easily hold a 120lbs camera dead still from as far away as you care to film.
I don't think stabilization would be an issue at all for a drone mounted rifle.
> I should think there'd be some kind of gimbal involved.
Random thought: If the drone can take a moment to set up and snipe from range, what about dropping some ballast down a telescoping pole? It may not help with yaw, but it'd reduce tipping.
Yes, I was thinking of something much larger than your typical consumer drone. I wasn't thinking of the little Mavic drone that lands in your hand. I suspect that it would be much smaller than a Predator, however.
I would love to see the drone platform that could hold a .338 rifle that steady half a mile in the air.
I should think there'd be some kind of gimbal involved.
Second, the system calculates the solution at the point of the trigger pull.
If you mean, "around the time the operator pulls the trigger."
This is fine if the movement is predictable (as it would be for a trained human). I suspect a drone is going to struggle mightily with a .338's recoil.
You're telling me that CIA contractors or other engineers couldn't engineer some kind of gimbal that would be more stable than a human operator? Making it lightweight and incorporating it into a drone would be difficult. I don't think it would be impossible or impractical.