Keep in mind that we once had many battleships in the fleet. They were rendered obsolete by the airplane.

Battleships are very fat targets in this age.

Bismarck and Musashi were eventually sunk by bombs. Then there was the near-successful attempt sinking USS Cole reflecting the potency of asymmetric warfare, and of course current drone technology which, if Ukrainian boat drones are able to sink large Russian missile cruisers, what more with a battleship about the size of an Iowa?

He’s in it mainly for the belief he wants to show a bigger e-peen.

  • merc@sh.itjust.works
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    1 day ago

    They have that budget, though

    They have that budget overall. Not $500k just to sink one ship.

    none of the russian naval assets destroyed have been taken out by drones

    Yes, because the Russians have been smart enough to keep their ships in Russian-controlled ports.

    • Warl0k3@lemmy.world
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      22 hours ago

      Yes, because the Russians have been smart enough to keep their ships in Russian-controlled ports.

      Which means they’re somehow immune to being attacked by drones? Russia has had naval assets repeatedly damaged by drones (both aerial and seababies) while in port, and yet none of those many attacks have been enough to truly take down one of those ships (also there are several examples of a warship being damaged, and even destroyed, while not in port by a drone… specifically by bayraktar TB2s firing missiles) (Might need to be doublechecked on that claim, I think it’s right although I didn’t did too deeply into the exact location around snake island several vessels were at when they were destroyed so they may have actually been in ports and I was just unable to confirm that)). The attack on the Moskva used (at least) two Neptune missiles, which cost between $1m - $1.5m each, and boy did that work spectacularly.

      Again, I’m not disputing that any weapon systems, under ideal conditions, can destroy any other weapon system (see again Digby Tatham-Warter (it was a Sd.Kfz. 234 not a panzer, whoops)). What I am disputing is that the drone units absolutely have that budget (and more), and yet despite having ample choice of high-value targets, and their choice of an inventory of extremely versatile drones, they have yet to find a solution that works, even when the ship is in a vulnerable place near land and with limited maneuvering options.

      What you’re claiming as a nearly forgone conclusion is much much more difficult than the thing they have already repeatedly tried and failed to do. The reasons to use missiles and planes to attack ships are manifold, as are the reasons to use drones in roles they are suited for. But they complement each other; the maneuverability of a drone is not somehow a straight replacement for the ability to carry a 500kg warhead.

      edit: bayraktar is hard to spell