US will unleash 'drone dominance' by fast-tracking production
- Thread starter mavic3usa
- Start date
TOTALLY AGREE ! Weaponization. That’s all I’ll say or I’ll get in trouble.
Something to do with the guy at the top spreading the lie at every chance?
Just for kicks & grins in reference to "US getting any $$ from imposed tariffs:
"The federal government collected $68.9 billion in tariffs and excise taxes during the first five months of the year, according to Treasury Department data collected by the Bipartisan Policy Center."
What amount would this group consider a substantial and worthwhile amount for the US to earn?
"As of July 9, 2025, the United States has generated $99.6 billion from tariffs this year. This marks a substantial increase of 110.9% compared to the same period last year. This surge in revenue is driven by the Trump administration's imposed and threatened tariffs, which have raised average U.S. tariff rates to levels not seen in decades. "
www.politico.com
"The federal government collected $68.9 billion in tariffs and excise taxes during the first five months of the year, according to Treasury Department data collected by the Bipartisan Policy Center."
What amount would this group consider a substantial and worthwhile amount for the US to earn?
"As of July 9, 2025, the United States has generated $99.6 billion from tariffs this year. This marks a substantial increase of 110.9% compared to the same period last year. This surge in revenue is driven by the Trump administration's imposed and threatened tariffs, which have raised average U.S. tariff rates to levels not seen in decades. "
Tracking the money Trump's tariffs are bringing in
Tracking the money Trump's tariffs are bringing in
Every cent of that was paid by US importers and (indirectly) by US consumers.
That's how tariffs work.
They are just an import tax.
How is that a good thing?
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It's not the amount that's significant, it's the source of the payments. The man imposing tariffs continues to fastate that the US has and is collecting tariffs from other countries.
Dave Pitman
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You do understand that those fees are almost all passed along to you and me when we buy from somewhere with a tariff, correct? You mentioned earlier that you are in favor of tariffs over taxation. But tariffs are just a form of targeted taxation on the consumer, us.
When used strategically, tariffs nudge consumers to purchase from us manufacturers. When there are no US manufacturers, then you either pay the tariff (tax). Or, you go without. There are no US alternatives for most all sUAS.
Here's a preview of some of the tariff discussions going on between people that are smarter than me. Some good points made in this discussion which takes a few minutes to get there so hang in there (after the firing discussion) and....this isn't the entire discussion, I'm looking for the rest of it:
My sentiments mirror several of the common themes that are pervasive in the video comments regarding the cost and the pace of the program when you're late to the party.
inevitably, in a thread like this I have noticed that there are almost always 1 or 2 people so invested in the righteousness of their world view that they feel compelled to make 2 dozen posts saying the same thing, over and over and over. Apparently believing that the 23rd time they say something has more power than the 3rd time
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Or just check TX, which has built a lot of wind turbines
In 2023, wind represented 28.6% of all electricity generated in the state. And that percentage is going up because TX continues to deploy more wind and solar, which produces electricity at a lower cost than other sources of power.
So Congress is interested in deploying drone defenses at all military air bases and other installations against the type of drone attacks which Ukraine carried out to destroy several Russian strategic bombers in Operation Spiderweb.
There was a recent test of small drones by the Dept. of Defense in Alaska:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/13/...e_code=1.WU8.j8LR.XTrSf9FtSkKT&smid=url-share
The Pentagon now is trying to go on a crash course to deploy the kind of small-scale drones -- as opposed to the much larger and way more expensive Reaper and Predator drones.
But the problem is that there is virtually no domestic small drone manufacturing capacity in this country. They will likely overpay some defense contractors for devices which are less capable in many ways than the ones you used to be able to buy off the shelf. China likely dominates supply chains for key components.
Ultimately one of the reasons they may cite for banning DJI and other Chinese drones is the potential for them being used to commit acts of terrorism or attacks on US military assets.
There was a recent test of small drones by the Dept. of Defense in Alaska:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/13/...e_code=1.WU8.j8LR.XTrSf9FtSkKT&smid=url-share
The Pentagon now is trying to go on a crash course to deploy the kind of small-scale drones -- as opposed to the much larger and way more expensive Reaper and Predator drones.
But the problem is that there is virtually no domestic small drone manufacturing capacity in this country. They will likely overpay some defense contractors for devices which are less capable in many ways than the ones you used to be able to buy off the shelf. China likely dominates supply chains for key components.
Ultimately one of the reasons they may cite for banning DJI and other Chinese drones is the potential for them being used to commit acts of terrorism or attacks on US military assets.
"On a patch of dirt in the vast wilderness in Alaska, a long-range drone roared like a lawn mower as it shot into the sky. It scanned the ground for a target it had been programmed to recognize, and then dived, attempting to destroy it by crashing into it. But it missed, landing about 80 feet away.
On another attempt, a drone nose-dived at launch. On a subsequent try, a drone crashed into a mountain.
These drones weren’t flown by amateur hobbyists. They were launched by drone manufacturers paid by a special unit of the Department of Defense as part of an urgent effort to update U.S. capabilities. For four days last month, they tested prototypes of one-way drones by trying to crash them into programmed targets, while soldiers tried to stop the drones with special electronic equipment.
The exercise aimed to help U.S. defense contractors and soldiers get better at drone warfare. But it illustrated some of the ways in which the U.S. military could be unprepared for such a conflict. The nation lags behind Russia and China in manufacturing drones, training soldiers to use them and defending against them, according to interviews with more than a dozen U.S. military officials and drone industry experts."
The above reminds me of a piece written by David Quammen years ago about a proposal, late in WWII, to fire-bomb Japanese cities by releasing hordes of bats from US aircraft, each bat to be fitted with a small incendiary device. The theory was that the bats would seek refuge in every little crevice they could find in a city's structures and that, after a predetermined lapse of time, the devices would ignite. The first time they tested the proposal at one of our proving grounds, a bat flew under the hood of the staff car assigned to the general in charge of the project and burned it to the ground. If memory serves, that's as far as the project got.
On another attempt, a drone nose-dived at launch. On a subsequent try, a drone crashed into a mountain.
These drones weren’t flown by amateur hobbyists. They were launched by drone manufacturers paid by a special unit of the Department of Defense as part of an urgent effort to update U.S. capabilities. For four days last month, they tested prototypes of one-way drones by trying to crash them into programmed targets, while soldiers tried to stop the drones with special electronic equipment.
The exercise aimed to help U.S. defense contractors and soldiers get better at drone warfare. But it illustrated some of the ways in which the U.S. military could be unprepared for such a conflict. The nation lags behind Russia and China in manufacturing drones, training soldiers to use them and defending against them, according to interviews with more than a dozen U.S. military officials and drone industry experts."
The above reminds me of a piece written by David Quammen years ago about a proposal, late in WWII, to fire-bomb Japanese cities by releasing hordes of bats from US aircraft, each bat to be fitted with a small incendiary device. The theory was that the bats would seek refuge in every little crevice they could find in a city's structures and that, after a predetermined lapse of time, the devices would ignite. The first time they tested the proposal at one of our proving grounds, a bat flew under the hood of the staff car assigned to the general in charge of the project and burned it to the ground. If memory serves, that's as far as the project got.
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Yep, those parachute-suspended bat bombs were intended to release Mexican Free-Tailed Bats, Tadarida brasiliensisi as winged arsonists equipped with 15 or so grams of napalm. There were apparently several tests that resulted in unintended fires on military bases. But, I'm sure our Secretary of Defense's drone project won't allow such potentially disloyal non-American bats or other components into his armada of drones.
Dave Pitman
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No squealing to the press either. Do they have polygraph machines for animals now?
We haven't heard any talk of manufacturers setting up factories to build drones in the US, have we?
It would take years and tons of capital.
Not to mention the money it takes to market a new or rebooted drone brand.
People claim that if iPhones were made in the US, they'd cost over $3000.
How much would a Mavic 4 Pro level drone cost to manufacture in the US?
It would take years and tons of capital.
Not to mention the money it takes to market a new or rebooted drone brand.
People claim that if iPhones were made in the US, they'd cost over $3000.
How much would a Mavic 4 Pro level drone cost to manufacture in the US?
I'm not even sure the U.S. has the ability to easily manufacture products like this on a large scale, assembly line type basis these days.
I think the only things that are manufactured like that here these days are some automobiles, firearms, and some musical equipment/instrument manufacturers. I can't think of any type of mass produced, consumer oriented electronic item that is made here.
Honestly, there is also this. If U.S. drone manufacturers were interested in manufacturing and marketing a consumer level drone that was on par with DJI, they'd have done so. Skydio certainly isn't, they stopped selling to consumers, and the really surprising thing is that there isn't really a U.S. based company that has even tried setting up a manufacturing line in China or elsewhere and manufacturing DJI style drones intended for consumer use. That last part is what I find puzzling, because the market is certainly there.
